StevenTale - Book One
by YourFriendlyNeighborhoodSinner
Summary: (I did not write this story, my friends did.) Steven and Connie are having a normal day, until the warp pads bring them to a big mountain. They climb up the mountain, looking for an exit, before a strong force throws them into a deep hole leading to a place full of mystery... Credit to EpicT02 for writing this story :3 STEVEN UNIVERSE AND UNDERTALE AU
1. 1 - A New World

Rain drops pelted the roof as the echo of crying breakfast characters played from the TV. The sound of the phone overpowered the sound of the rain, and Steven rushed to answer it.

"Hi, Steven!" said Connie, one of his closest friends. "Are you busy?"

"No, not right now," he replied. "Do you need something?"

"No, I was just wondering if I could come over to practice sword fighting with you and Pearl," she continued.

"Heh, sure!" He concluded. "I'll go let Pearl know. I'll be back in a bit!" Hanging up, Steven rushed to the back of the Temple, knocking on the interdimensional door that lay there. "PEARL!" He shouted, banging on it. "Are you in there?" When no reply came, he figured that she must've left on a mission. Swiftly, he grabbed his cellphone and called Connie back.

"Hey, Connie... I can't find Pearl anywhere."

"Hmm… well, maybe she's already at the arena. That's where she seems to spend most of her

free time nowadays. I'll be over in a few minutes."

"Alrighty, see you then!" Running up the stairs, he hung up the phone and grabbed his sandals, preparing for his training session. Within minutes, two thuds sounded from his door.

"Hey, Connie, come on in!" Steven said, stepping aside as to let her pass through. Before she could say anything, the warp pad emitted a blinding glow, and the two heard a loud, high-pitched sound. For some reason, the usual, blue glow that surrounded the pad suddenly changed to a deep red, and the mystic noise altered itself into a much darker tone.

"Steven, what's going on with the Warp Pad?" Connie inquired, observing the change. "I don't think that the warp pad is supposed to be red…"

"Oh… it's probably nothing. Maybe the Gems meant for it to do that!"

"Then wouldn't they have told us…?" Steven shrugged in response, and Connie sighed. "Ok, Steven, if you say so…" She bent down and picked up her bag. "Actually, when you don't worry about, it looks kinda cool. Don't you think?"

"Yeah, it does look cool! You think it'll still work?" Steven asked, stepping up onto the pad with Connie.

"Yeah, I'm sure... Otherwise, we wouldn't be moving!" At that moment, the Warp Pad started shaking vigorously. Startled, Connie shouted "Steven, what's going on?!"

"I- I don't know!" he replied, reaching out for something to grab onto. But there was nothing there… not even the reassurance of the stars that normally surrounded the stream. Instead, a vast amount of darkness swirled around them. Slowly, the solidity of the stream faded into a transparent curtain, disappearing all together after a few seconds. When the deep, terrifying pitch finally faded, the two were left standing alone next to a massive mountain, the Warp Pad nowhere to be seen.

"S-Steven, where are we?!" Connie stammered. Nervously, the pair inspected their surroundings.

"I… don't know," Steven replied after a few minutes. "I've never been here before. It looks… different."

"Where did the Warp Pad go?" she continued. "How are we supposed to get back?!"

Steven stood, thinking. "I don't think we're supposed to go back. Maybe the pad brought us here for a reason. Maybe… we're supposed to go on."

"But we don't even know where we are! Maybe... we climb up the the mountain. Or we could sit here and wait…"

They looked around the area in hopes of finding food or some clue, but all they found was that all the plants were covered in a thin layer of dust.

"Well, there's nothing here... maybe we _should_ go up the mountain."

Nodding, Connie continued. "Hey, Steven, why do you think there's dust everywhere?"

"Maybe there's a lot of dust from the people that live here."

"Haha, that's funny, Steven."

Worriedly, Steven continued. "So... did you pack any food?"

"Yeah, I have some grapes in my backpack," she finished, pulling out a large bag of fruit.

"Yum! Thanks!" Steven replied, taking some. "C'mon, we should start climbing… the faster we make it out of here, the quicker we can start our training."

Following Steven's advice, the pair started up the mountain, thoughts of anxiousness flooding their heads. "We're almost to the top," Connie noted after a few hours.

"Ok," he said, out of breath. "I'll run up and see what's up there!"

"Oh, ok... have fun!" She called as he ran towards the top. After a few seconds, she heard a gasp of awe.

"Hey, Connie, you need to see this hole! It's huge!"

"Alright, Steven!" She called, trailing to the top. Arriving at the summit, she, too, gaped at the massive crevice. "Steven, that's huge! H-how deep does it go?"  
"I can't really tell," he replied, squinting. "It's too dark."

"Oh, jeez," she said, running up beside him. "You shouldn't stand so close to the edge. You might fall in!"

"Connie, I'm sure it's fi-" Steven started, but before he could finish, the mountain started rocking unnaturally, with vigorous force.

"S-Steven…" she started, but the two tumbled into the darkness.


	2. 2 - The Ruins

Hearing a distant gasp, Steven struggled to open his eyes, trying to recollect the previous events. A small, white figure stood over him, a look of sympathy in his eye.

"A-are you OK?" He asked, looking over the young humans.

"N-No, I don't think so," Connie started, inspecting herself. "My leg… it hurts."

"I'll go get Mom!" The figure cried, running north. Steven stared at him, trying to figure out what species the creature was.

"I think I'm seeing things… I thought he had white fur and long ears. He… kinda looked like a goat."

"Yeah, sure… Steven, can you please get off me?"

"Oh, yeah… sorry I fell on you, Connie," he replied worriedly.

"It's ok…" she stated, sitting up. Sitting next to Steven, she, too, inspected the now distant figure. "Wow, look at how long those ears are."

"Hehe, yeah, they look so cool," he replied, watching the little goat disappear. Barely seconds later, he returned with a much larger figure.

"I'm back!" Called the youngest, pulling on his mother's hand, working to rush her to the scene. Concerned, the woman bent down over the pair.

"Are either of you hurt? In any way?" She asked, cutting right to the point.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine…" Steven continued, glancing anxiously at Connie. "But my friend…"

"I think I scraped my leg," she said, and the woman pulled out a bandaid.

Handing it to the girl, she said "Here, this may help."

"Howdy! I'm Asriel!" said the smaller figure, jumping in front. "Nice to meet you two!"

"And I'm Toriel. Greetings, it's nice to meet you both," the mother said, smiling at the children.

"Hi, I'm Steven!" Steven said, taking Toriel's hand.

"And I'm Connie. It's… nice to meet you both."

Beaming, Asriel looked back up at Toriel, who continued. "Oh, jeez… I… have to go do something. Are you OK to stay?"

Nervously, Connie shook her head, following Steven, who seemed confident. As if sensing Connie's anxiousness, she added, "Don't worry; Asriel knows his way around. Stay in a group, and I'll meet you at home."

In unison, the three said goodbye to Toriel as she headed off down the Ruins. Turning back to his new friends, Asriel smiled. "C'mon, follow me!" He said, heading off in the opposite direction. As the three wandered through the Ruins, Steven built up the courage to ask Asriel the question he had wondered since he'd arrived.

"So, Asriel… what _are_ you?" Connie elbowed him in the stomach, but luckily, the youngest didn't seem to take any offense.

"I'm a monster!" He answered, a little unsure of what the humans' reactions would consist of. However, the two didn't seem to mind, either.

"Wow," Connie replied, but Steven cut her off.

"So you're like a gem?" He asked, intrigued in Asriel's choice of words.

"Huh? Do you mean, like the ones on the walls?" He inquired, pointing to the glistening gems lined up along the brick.

"Heh, no, like me!" Steven replied, lifting up his shirt to reveal the Rose Quartz gemstone that lay underneath.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Exclaimed Asriel, bending down to see it. "I wish I had one of those- all I have is fur."

"Hey, what's that?" Connie asked, interrupting the conversation. She pointed down the hallway to another small figure- much smaller than Asriel, however.

"Oh, that's a Froggit!" Asriel answered, running over to it. In response, it croaked.

"Ribbit, ribbit (Hello there! I saw your mom run by here, Asriel.)"

"Hey, what's he saying, Asriel?" Connie inquired.  
"Oh, he just said that my mom-" he started, but was interrupted by the ringing of his cellphone.

"Hello, Asriel?" She said when he picked it up. "Can you ask your friends if they like cinnamon or butterscotch?"

So Asriel asked. "Butterscotch," answered Connie.

"Cinnamon," said Steven at the same time. Asriel repeated the answers back to his mother

"Yes, I see…" Toriel said in response. "Well then, I know what I'll do. Thank you, Asriel… and try to be home soon, please. See you soon!"

Putting his phone away, Asriel looked up at Connie and Steven. "My mom wants us to be home soon," he said, "so we should get going. Do you guys like puzzles?"  
"Sure," Steven said. "Why do you ask?"  
"We can get home faster if we take the other route, but… there are a lot of puzzles!" He replied, smiling. "But I can help you through them if you need help."  
"Well, we'd better get going, then," Connie said, looking up.

"Follow me!" Asriel continued, running in the opposite direction. The humans struggled to keep up with him as he raced through the corridors

"Asriel, wait for us!" Steven called, laughing. He grabbed Connie's hand and sped toward the young monster. Luckily, they approached a large door, where Asriel stopped. Swiftly, he began to solve the puzzle, working fast. Unfortunately, he wasn't tall enough the reach the lever that sit above him, flipped up, inches out of his reach.

"Here, let me help," Connie said, lifting him up as to put him within its reach. Beaming, he flipped it downward, opening the large, metal door.

"Thanks, Connie!" Asriel exclaimed.

"Heh, no problem," she replied, smiling.

"Let's get going!" Asriel marched off into the next room, the others following close behind him. As he wandered, he explained the next puzzle. "Now, luckily, my mom labelled all the levers… yet there's one that I forgot the solution to. Oh, well, I'll remember it when we get there!" As he rushed ahead, Connie leaned over to Steven.

"Hey, Steven, I wonder what the other puzzles are like," she stated.

"Why don't you just ask him?" Steven asked, gesturing to Asriel. As if on cue, Asriel continued.

"There are a few… the first one has three levers that you pull. You just gotta know which ones! The second one is a path of spikes, etcetera… so, where are you two from?" He finished.

"I'm from Beach City!" Steven exclaimed.

"And I live outside of Beach City… my parents call it the 'Maheswaran Residence'." Connie said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, I live here, in the Underground!" Asriel said, a look of emptiness in his eyes. "I've… never really been to the surface. Only a few monsters have. And I wasn't one of them. What's it like? "

"You've never been to the surface?" Steven asked.

"How come?" Connie continued. Asriel sighed.

"Well, you see… LONG ago, two races ruled over the Earth: Humans and Monsters. One day, a war broke out between the two races and after a long series of battle, the humans were victorious. The greatest of their magicians sealed the monsters to the Underground with a magic barrier." Asriel looked away quickly.

"That's… kinda sad, don't you think?" Steven said solemnly.

"Y-Yeah…" she whispered. "I mean, never seeing the Sun…"

Asirel bounded up to the two. "I really don't know what I'm missing, so I can't be sad about it… oh, we're here!" The young goat stopped in his tracks, gesturing proudly at his home. "C'mon!"


	3. 3 - Home

Asriel opened the door, and the three stepped inside. "MOM, We're HOME!" Asriel shouted, nearly slamming the door behind him.

"Wow, this place is a lot bigger on the inside than on the outside..." Connie noted as she inspected the area.

"Heh, you can say that again!" Steven agreed.  
"Well, our house is on the side of the Ruins!" explained Asriel. He started to continue, but Toriel cut him off, appearing in front of the children.

"Welcome!" She said, smiling. "Follow me, young ones."

"Where to?" Connie asked, trailing behind Steven and Asriel. Toriel lead them to a small room at the end of the eastern hallway.

"Here we are," she said, opening the door and turning to the humans. "You can stay with Asriel for now."

"But Mom," Asriel complained, "there are only two beds in my room!"

"Well, them, one of you will have to sleep on the floor," Toriel concluded.

"Alright, I'll do it!" Asriel volunteered, working to be a good host.

"Th-thank you," Connie said, and Steven bounded up to the small monster.

"If you change your mind, I'll be fine sleeping on the floor!" Steven exclaimed, smiling. At that moment, the aroma of burning pastries filled the room, and Toriel's kind expression suddenly seemed more anxious.

"Oh, I have to go real quick… please, get used to your new room," she said, running out of the room and down the hall.

"Bye, Mom!" Asriel called after her, Connie and Steven walking up to him.

"I wonder what she's cooking," she pondered, glancing at Steven.

"Yeah, me too…" he agreed, still entranced by the new environment.

"Well, I hope it's Snail Pie!" exclaimed Asriel, walking to the far side of the room.

"Snail Pie? Ew," the two humans noted in unison. The small monster looked up curiously at them.

"It's not as bad as it sounds, trust me," he assured them. The group was interrupted by Toriel.

"Get some sleep, you three!" She called from the other side of the house. "You must be tired after such a long day!"  
"I suppose I could take a nap…" Connie said, setting her backpack in the far corner of the room.

"Heh, yeah… running to the house and back can tire anyone out easily," Asriel noted, pulling a blanket out from under a far bed and laying it out on the ground. "You guys can take whichever bed you want…"

And so, for the next couple of hours, the three took a short nap. Thoughts of home flooded Steven's head as he tried to fall asleep, however. He couldn't help but worry about how he and Connie would make it back to Beach City, or how the Gems must be feeling about their sudden disappearance. To him, the hours that passed only seemed like a few minutes, but his thoughts were interrupted by a hand on his shoulder.

"Steven. Steven! Wake up, there's pie!" It took him a few minutes to remember who the small figure over top of him was. Entranced by the lovely smell emitting from the center of the room, Steven sat up in his bed, inspecting the pastry that lay below him.

"Oh, good, it's not Snail Pie," he said with a laugh. Connie, obviously forgetting where she was, rolled over in her bed.

"Five more minutes," she moaned. Asriel laughed.

"I'm not your mom, silly!" He said in between laughs. "C'mon, there's pie!"

Connie turned over in her bed, sitting up. "Where?" she asked wearily.

Steven bent down and picked the pie up off the floor. "Right here," he replied, flopping down beside her. She looked down at it, smiling. Asriel sat down beside them with a plastic cutter and started to slice the pie into pieces. The three sat, talking and laughing.

"Wow, that was probably the best pie my mom has made yet!" Asriel said, putting his empty plate on the desk beside him.

"Hey, where's our pieces?" Steven asked. Asriel's face turned red.

"Oh, umm…" The other two laughed.

"Don't worry about it," Connie said.

"Yeah, but… shouldn't we go see Toriel now? It's been a while," Steven noted. The other agreed, and the group walked down the hallway into Toriel's dining room.

Startled, Toriel looked up from her book. "Hello there, Steven and Connie. Did you kids sleep well?"

In near unison, the children nodded their heads. However, Steven looked down worriedly, trying to decide whether or not he should ask the question he had been curious about since he'd fallen asleep. " … w-when can we go home?"

Toriel's kind expression suddenly morphed into one with fear and a bit of anger. "Oh, umm... " she started nervously. "I have something I need to do… you kids stay here." Putting her book on her rocking chair, Toriel stood up and hurried down the hallway, turning at the staircase.

"Something doesn't seem right…" Steven said anxiously. He looked over at Connie. "I think we should follow her."  
"I agree," she said, nodding confidently. Asriel tugged both of the humans on their shirt sleeves.

"B-but Mom said not to follow her!" he whined. Steven gently pulled his arm away.

"I know, but… she seems upset. We need to find out what's happening." Steven and Connie both started down the hallway, and with no other option, Asriel trailed behind them.

They stepped into the cold darkness, straining to make out the dark figure that lay ahead.

"Go back upstairs, children," she warned coldly, running ahead. Steven and Connie followed swiftly, Asriel shouting behind them.

"W-we should listen to her!" he cried, but the two human continued down the corridor. The pathway seemed to go on for an hour, but they continued down it until another cold warning rang out.

"GO," she boomed, but Steven was not afraid.

"N-no! We want to know what you're doing!" he cried with clenched fists. Toriel remained calm.

"I am going to destroy the exit to the surface. It is for your own good; do not try and stop me. If you want, I will fight you… and you _will_ lose."

"I-I'm sorry, , but we _need_ to go home- the Gems would be worried sick about us! Please…" Steven begged.

"Very well then- let's go," she said, starting to attack. Startled, Connie stepped to the side, running back down the hallway to get her sword. As Toriel started thrashing what appeared to be small balls of fire, Steven dived to the left. In one swift motion, he lifted up his shirt and summoned his shield, working to ricochet one of her attacks back at her. It seemed like the only way to win without throwing an attack.

"Why are you looking at me that way?!" she shouted, hurling more fireballs at Steven. At this point, Asriel had stepped out of the attack, and Connie was making her way back down the stairs with all their things.

"Because, I don't want to fight!" He cried, lowering his shield. A tear came to his eye, and Toriel, seeing his sadness, ended her attack.

"Then give up," she said, but when he shook his head she continued. This time, she threw many more, and much, much faster… but none of them hit Steven. They weren't even close. After a few minutes of useless attacks, Toriel sighed. "I see you really are determined to leave the Ruins…" she said sadly. "Please, kids… let's just go upstairs. We can be a nice family!"

"But we have our _own_ families, . On the surface!" Connie exclaimed, lowering Rose's sword.

"Yeah, I'd miss _my_ family too much…" Steven started, looking down. "I'm sorry… we have to leave. You understand, right?"

"I-I wanna go, too!" Asriel said, jumping back into the scene. Now it was Toriel's turn to tear up. "Mom, I… I love you, but it's too small here! I don't want to be the only other person living here… and… you can come with us!"

Toriel wiped away her tears. "N-no… I want to stay here, but… you can go. Just promise me one thing, Asriel. All of you."

"Anything," Asriel whispered.

"Don't come back. Ever," she concluded. Asriel took a deep breath.

"Ok… I love you, Mom," he said, walking up to hug her, but she backed away.

"Good luck," she said, walking back to the stairs.

"Goodbye!" Steven and Connie called in unison. Thoughts of sadness filled Steven's head, but Asriel pulled them both to the door that had previously laid behind Toriel.


	4. 4 - New Friends

"Wow, that's a big door!" Asriel exclaimed. "I wonder what's on the other side…?"

"Probably more monsters," Connie started, but Asriel bounded up ahead, reaching for the handle.

"Let's go see!" He said, running up ahead. Steven, holding the door open for Connie, noticed that Asriel had bounded up a long way before the two humans were ready to move on.

"I hope he'll be OK-" he started, but he was interrupted by a rustling noise. The two stood still, scared.

"What was that?" Connie said, as footsteps sounded in the distance. They got closer and closer, until a short, dark figure stood behind them.

"Hey, don't ya know how to greet a new pal?" It asked. "

d."

Quickly building up courage, Steven turned around to face the figure. He grabbed the stranger's hand, only to find…

*fffffppttt*

"Heh, that trick never gets old!" the figure said, laughing. Steven, too, laughed along. Connie, however, did not seem in such a mood for games. "Hey, sorry 'bout that," the figure said. "I didn't mean to scare ya. I'm Sans."

"Hi! I'm Steven!" Pulling his hand away, Steven glanced over at Connie.

"I-I'm Connie…" she said with a bit of annoyance in her voice. Getting a better look at her face, Steven could see that she appeared to be searching for Asriel. "It's nice to meet you…" she continued warily.

"And I'm Asriel!" Steven heard from behind them startling the three. "It's nice to meet you…" the second time speaking, Asriel seemed a bit more nervous, as if he was scared of this new person. Sans, on the other hand, just laughed.

"So, two out of three of you are humans, huh? Well, I'm not much for human hunting, but… my brother is a human hunting fanatic."

"Oh, well, I'm not fully human... I'm part Gem. See?" Steven said, pulling up his shirt to show Sans. Connie, on the other hand, seemed more nervous.

"I'll all human, though..." she muttered.

"Well, then, follow me," Sans said, and he, Steven, and Asriel wandered off. Reluctantly, Connie followed, wondering what was waiting for them up ahead.

As the four walked through the snow, a distant, young voice called through the distance. "SAAAAANS!"

"Oh, that's him," Sans said. "Quick, get behind those three conveniently shaped lamps." Reluctantly, they did, and a young voice cried from the distance.

"SAAAAAANS! WHERE DID YOU GO?"

"What do you need, Papyrus?" asked Sans, as a tiny white figure appeared in front of them. He looked to be about Connie's size- and age.

"YOU'VE BEEN NAPPING _ALL NIGHT_ , SANS!" Papyrus yelled, looking down at his brother. Although Sans had seemed about Steven's age, Papyrus was still about and inch taller than him.

"Uh, bro, I think that's called 'sleeping'," Sans replied with a wink. Papyrus sighed loudly.

"WELL AT LEAST YOU'RE BY YOUR POST," he said. "WE NEED TO BE READY IF A HUMAN COMES BY!"

"Pap, you're too young for that," Sans said. "You know we've gotta be at least 18 to get into the Royal Guard. You can wait six years. Besides," he finished, shrugging. "There are no humans here."

"HOW DO YOU KNOW?" the youngest said, putting his hands on his hips.

"Because if there _was,_ I would've seen it." Sans concluded.

"OK… BUT KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN. AND NO MORE SLEEPING ON THE JOB!" Papyrus said.

"Ok, ok… I'll keep and _eye-socket_ out for one," he said with another wink. This seemed to make his brother mad, but Steven worked to stifle a laugh. It had taken him a while to realize that Sans and his brother here not just white figures, but skeletons.

"SANS! NO PUNS!" Papyrus shouted, crossing his arms.

"But I'm in a _punny mood,_ " Sans argued.

"ALRIGHTY, THAT'S IT. I'M LEAVING, SANS."

"Bye, Paps," he called, as his brother trudged through the snow. Sans turned back to the lamps. "He's gone, you can come out now."

"What was with all the jokes?" Asriel asked when the three emerged from the pottery.

"You made it hard not to blow our cover!" Steven said, holding his sides from laughing. Sans smiled.

"I must admit, that was pretty… _punny_ ," Connie agreed, chuckling.

"Heh, nice one, kid," Sans said.

"We should get going," Asriel said, running ahead.

"Sure, wait for us!" Steven called, waving his arms and chasing after the young monster. Connie turned back to Sans.

"C'mon, Sans, let's catch up," she said, but by now the two were out of view. "If we _can_ catch up!" She finished with a laugh.

"Hey, don't worry, kid, I know a shortcut," he said, grabbing her hand. Swiftly, he ran in the direction of the Ruins. For a split second, the world went dark, and with a flash, the two were standing in front of Steven and Asriel, who were catching their breath on a rock.

"Steven, did you see that?!" Connie said, baffled. "That was AMAZING, Sans!"

"What happened? What did I miss?!" Steven asked as Sans and Connie started laughing. Looking up, Sans's care free expression suddenly disappeared.

"Hey, you guys wait here by this rock," he said, and we walked further up the path. After a minute or two of walking, he finally caught up with his brother, who was nearly out of sight from where the humans stood.

"SANS, WHAT WERE YOU-" Papyrus started, but he had been looking in the direction Sans came from, and what he saw caught his eye. Alternating, he and his brother turned back and forth, from each other to the distance.

"OMG, SANS, ARE THOSE HUMANS?!" he exclaimed.

"Nah, I think that's a rock, bro," Sans said sarcastically, but Papyrus didn't seem to get the joke.

"OH…" he said, sounding disappointed. Sans rolled his eyes.

"Hey, Paps, what's that _beside_ the rock?"

Papyrus squinted into the distance. "OMG SANS! THOSE _ARE_ HUMANS!" he exclaimed with joy.

"Heh, yeah," Sans said, smiling. As if on cue, Steven, Asriel, and Connie walked up to the pair.

"Hi! I'm Steven!" Steven said. He gestured to Connie. "This is my friend, Connie!"

Asriel walked up in front of the humans. "And I'm Asriel," he said. The young skeleton seemed shocked at all of these new visitors.

"WELL, I'M THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" He said, striking a pose. "NYEH!"

"Well, it looks like you guys are getting along nicely," Sans said, looking up at Papyrus. "Hey, Papy, I'm gonna go home now… you wanna bring the humans with us?"

"THAT SOUNDS LIKE AN EXCELLENT IDEA!" He declared. "HUMANS! TO SNOWDIN!"

"Ok!" Steven, Connie, and Asriel all shouted in unison. They all broke out into laughter at their untimely coincidence.

"THIS WAY!" Papyrus said, and the five all walked to Snowdin, laughing and talking all the way. About half an hour passed before they actually reached the city, and Sans pointed out their house amongst all the other buildings that laid scattered among the town.

"Wow, there are so many different monsters here!" Asriel exclaimed in awe as they trudged through the snow.

"Whoa, look, they've even got shops here!" Steven chimed, looking at a small wooden stand.

"Cool! Let me see!" Asriel said, jumping up and down. He pulled out a few golden coins. After counting them, he looked up at his new friends. "I only have twenty gold."  
"I have a nickel!" Steven shouted, pulling out the silver coin for Asriel and Papyrus to see.

"I left my money at home. I thought we'd be sword training," Connie sighed. Their conversation was interrupted by a tall, purple bunny, who they assumed to be the shop owner.

"Howdy," she said, looking at the group of children. "How can I help you?"

"Can I see what you're selling?" Asriel asked, getting on his tiptoes.

"Alright," she continued, pulling out a list and handing it to the young monster.

Asriel pointed to an item on the list. "I'll take one bisicle, please," he concluded, giving the lady his gold. The shop owner pulled out a two ended lollipop- but bother pops were merged together at an angle on the stick.

"Here ya go," she said, handing it to him. He reached up and grabbed for it.

"Thank you!" Asriel said, as the bunny disappeared behind the counter.

"C'mon, we should head over the Sans and Papyrus's house," Connie said, tugging on Asriel's shirt sleeve. "They left a while ago to 'tidy up'."

"Alright!" Asriel said, and the three walked over to the skeletons' house. Steven bounded up the porch steps, knocking on the front door.

"WHY, HELLO THERE, HUMANS!" Papyrus greeted, smiling. Suddenly, he turned around. " _SANS!_ GET DOWN HERE!"

"No," came a muffled shout, "I'm good."

" _SANS, NOW!_ " Papyrus shouted, throwing a kitchen chair at his bedroom door. For some reason, flames were emitting from underneath San's door.

"Dude, I'm coming, chill!" He shouted with a laugh. He poked his head out of the door and saw the humans and Asriel standing in the doorway, cracking up at the incident.

"C-Can we come in now?" Asriel asked, holding his stomach.

"OF COURSE!" Papyrus exclaimed. "I'M MAKING PASTA!"

"But, Papyrus, you're _12_ … let me make th-" Sans started, but he was interrupted.

"PAPYRUS, you're 12?!" Connie shouted. Papyrus nodded slightly. "That makes us the same age! Sans… how old are _you_?"

"I'm… uh… Papyrus, how old am I again? Am I older or younger than you?"

"I'M NOT SURE…" he replied. "LET ME THINK…"

"Wait, you guys have to think about this?" Connie asked.

"QUICK, SANS, WHAT'S 12 PLUS 3?" Papyrus asked.

"Um, I think it's 16… no, no, wait... it's... uh, 15," he replied.

"WELL THEN, CONNIE, SANS IS 15!" Papyrus shouted, putting his hands on his hips proudly.

"Oh my gosh! You guys look so much older!" Steven exclaimed, taking a second look at the skeletons. Sans shrugged, turning around.

"I say we take our guests out to Grillby's… they've obviously never had it," Sans said, "and you haven't lived till you've had Grillby's."

"BUT THEY'VE OBVIOUSLY NEVER HAD MY SPAGHETTI EITHER!" Papyrus argued, but when he saw he saw the look on his brother's face, he sighed. "ALRIGHT, WE'LL GO TO GRILLBY'S."

"Trust me, you guys are gonna love this," Sans said,starting up the stair. Befor he went on the first one, he stopped "Hey, Papyrus?.

"WHAT DO YOU NEED, SANS?" He asked.

"Can you go up and grab my shoes for me?"

"WHY CAN'T YOU DO IT?"

"Because," Sans said, shrugging. "I don't want to go up those stairs. I think they're _up to something._ "

"SAAAAAANNNNSSSS!" Papyrus shouted, and Sans ran up the stairs, laughing.

"What's Grillby's?" Steven asked, after he, Connie, and Asriel had stopped laughing.

"IT'S A RESTAURANT ABOUT 2 BLOCKS DOWN THAT SANS LOVES," Papyrus explained. "BUT I DON'T CARE FOR IT TOO MUCH… THEIR FOOD IS TOO GREASY."

"I'm starving! I don't care what we eat!" Asriel exclaimed, and they broke out laughing. Sans came back down the stairs.

"Hey, what did I miss?" Sans asked.

"OH, NOTHING… LET'S GO!" Papyrus declared, and the five kids walked out of the house and down to Girllby's.


	5. 5 - Dinner with the Skelebros

"Welp, here we are: Grillby's," Sans said, as the group stood at the entrance. "I come here to eat all the time."

"Cool!" Asriel exclaimed, observing the restaurant.

"COME ON, LET'S GO IN!" Papyrus suggested, and they entered the building.

There were a lot of unfamiliar monsters eating inside, but luckily, there was an extended booth in the far side of the room. "Usually, I'd sit at the counter," Sans explained, "but since we have so many people, I suppose this'll have to do."

"Who are all these other monsters?" Steven asked, taking a seat.

"I don't know 'em by name, but… they just come here often. Just like me." Sans replied, sitting across from Steven. From the other side of the table, a wet fart sound emitted from the seat. Everyone in the restaurant burst out laughing.

"Wh-wha…?" Connie asked, pulling a whoopee cushion from the seat.

"Oh, right, forgot to warn ya… be careful where you sit- the monsters here love pranking as much as I do."

"SANS, HOW DO YOU LIKE THIS PLACE? IT IS TOO NOISY!" Papyrus complained. Sans shrugged in reply, and Papyrus sighed.

A tall, flaming man with horn-rimmed glasses walked over to the table. He looked down at Sans with a blank expression.

"Five orders of burgs and fries, Grillby," Sans said, and the flaming guy walked away. "You guys like burgers, right?" He asked, looking back at the others. Everyone complied.

"So… Papyrus, why are you so obsessed with human hunting?" Asriel asked.

"BECAUSE, OUR KING, ASGORE, NEEDS HUMAN SOULS TO BE ABLE TO TAKE OVER THE SURFACE! AND HE GETS THOSE SOULS FROM ROYAL GUARDS! AND I WANNA BE A ROYAL GUARD WHEN I GROW UP!" Papyrus exclaimed. "SO I PRACTICE CAPTURING HUMANS TO PROVE THAT I CAN BE A ROYAL GUARD!"

"Wait, what do you mean, 'take over the surface'?" Connie asked.

"AS IN GET RID OF ALL THE HUMANS AND MAKE SPACE FOR US MONSTERS!"

"Get rid of us?" Steven asked. "How come?"

"It's something stupid, with that whole war things between us and you," Sans replied. "He thinks that, with the power of seven human souls, he can wipe out the entire human race. I don't think they deserve to die… and I don't think he should be wasting his time trying to do something so pointless. There's no way we can make it to the surface- I gave up trying to go back a long time ago."

"H-how many souls does he have so far?" Connie asked.

"FIVE," Papyrus exclaimed. "AND I WILL GET ONE OF THOSE MISSING SOULS IF IT IS THE LAST THING I DO. NYE-HEH-HEH!"

"Y-You're not gonna use… us, are you?" Steven asked. Papyrus looked down at Steven, contemplating the idea.

"NO. YOU TWO ARE… UH… YOU ARE…" He stopped for a second, thinking of an excuse. "YOU ARE NOT FULLY HUMAN! THEREFORE, I CANNOT TAKE YOUR SOUL!" He gestured to Steven, and then turned to Connie. "YOU ARE… YOUR HAIR IS TOO BLACK. ASGORE IS PICKY WHEN IT COMES TO HAIR!"

"Heh, alright, that's a decent excuse," Sans said sarcastically. He started to say more, but before he could start, Grillby came back over with a set of five burgers and fires, each set up on their own individual tray.

"Hey, thanks!" Asriel said, beaming, as he took a bite of his burger. Everyone started eating, continuing their conversation.

"So, what do you guys do up on the surface?" Sans asked.

"Well, when I'm not being a normal kid, I go out and fight gem mons- gem _beings_ with Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl," Steven replied.

"WHO ARE THEY?" Papyrus inquired.

"Oh, they're considered to be my moms, but they're not actually my moms… my mom is Rose Quartz, but she gave up her physical form for me, so now I just live with the other Gems. I still have her gem, though!"

"How the heck do those work?" Sans asked.

"Well, depending on how I feel, I can activate my powers and summon my shiel-"  
"YOU HAVE POWERS TOO?!" Papyrus exclaimed. Steven nodded. "I HAVE POWERS! I CAN CONTROL BONES AND STUFF!"

"But not fully," Sans added, grabbing Papyrus's shoulder.

"Cool! All I can do is jump really high, heal people with my spit, and summons my mom's shield," Steven explained. "Oh, I can also bubble poofed gems and fuse."

"THAT'S SO COOL!" Papyrus yelled.

"Pap, keep it down, you're being too loud!" Sans said with a laugh.

He looked over to Connie. "What do _you_ do on the surface, Connie?"

"Oh, my life is nowhere near as exciting as Steven's," she started. "Anything adventurous that does happen is when I'm hanging out with him or his friends. But I can swordfight!"

"Oh, she's really good!" Asriel exclaimed, looking up from his fries. "I watched her while she was reflecting Mom's attacks- she's so skilled!"

"I'm not _that_ good…" Connie insisted. At that moment, Grillby walked back over the the table, holding his hand out to Sans.

"Thanks, Grillby… just put it on my tab," he said, and the flaming man's flames grew even more red than before. "He hates it when I say that," Sans whispered to Steven and Connie.

"COME ON, BROTHER, IT IS GETTING LATE!" Papyrus noted, looking at an invisible watch on his hand. He turned to Steven, Connie, and Asriel. "DO YOU GUYS HAVE ANY PLACE TO STAY?"

"No, not really… I thought we'd be out of here soon," Connie explained.

"WELL THEN, IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE MONEY TO STAY IN THE SNOWED INN, WE SHOULD HAVE A SLEEPOVER!" He proposed. "WHAT DO YOU SAY?"

"That sounds like a great idea!" Steven replied.

"Yay, sleepover!" Asriel rejoiced.

"Ugh, fine… but no one's allowed in my room, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!" Sans declared, making his way out of the restaurant.

"This is gonna be fun," Connie said as she trailed behind him.

"I'M SO GLAD I HAVE MY NEW HUMAN FRIENDS TO SPEND THE NIGHT WITH!" Papyrus shouted as loud as possible into the distance once they were outside. What he didn't know is that someone was listening… someone who wanted the human souls, for it was her job to get them… someone undying.

"SO, ASRIEL…" Papyrus started as they trudged through the snow. "DO YOU HAVE ANY RELATIONSHIP TO KING ASGORE? BECAUSE YOU KINDA LOOK LIKE HIM!

"Y-yeah…" he started nervously. "You see… I'm his son."

"I KNEW IT!" Papyrus exclaimed, snapping his fingers.

"Papyrus, you know, it's a little rude to ask personal questions like that to someone you just met," Sans explained.

"OH, RIGHT… SO SORRY, ASRIEL," he apologized.

"It's OK, Papyrus!" Asriel said, smiling.

"Isn't Asgore that guy you were talking about in Grillby's, Papyrus?" Steven asked.

"YOU MEAN, KING ASGORE." he corrected.

"Wow, that makes you a prince, Asriel!" Connie declared.

"WHOA, a prince!" Steven said in awe.

"Well, it's not that big of a deal…" Asriel started, but Papyrus interrupted.

"WHO WANTS SOME PASTA?" He asked, as he walked up the porch steps.

"Papyrus, we literally just ate dinner," Sans said, but he didn't seem to notice.

"NONE THE MATTER," Papyrus declared, determined to cook. Sans rolled his eyes and shut the door. While Papyrus tried to cook some spaghetti, the other four sat in the living room, talking about anything they could think of. About half an hour had passed before Papyrus came out of the kitchen with a large, flaming bowl of spaghetti.

"Papyrus, how in the world did you manage to set pasta on fire?" Sans asked irritably.

"I HAVE… NO IDEA!" Papyrus concluded, giving a portion to everyone.

"Psst, don't eat it, kid," Sans whispered as Steven nearly took a bite. "It's not edible."

Taking Sans's advice, Steven pretended to eat the pasta. "Papyrus, this is delicious!" he commented, hoping to raise the young skeleton's confidence.

Unfortunately, Asriel hadn't heard Sans's warning. Cautiously, he took a bite, and his fur started on fire.  
"AHHHHH! FIRE!" Papyrus shouted, running into his kitchen.

Sans rolled his eyes. "Be right back… I'll go get the fire extinguisher. And the first aid kit."

What bothered Steven was that Sans didn't seem to be worried at all- it had been about a minute and a half and he still hadn't returned with what he promised. Summoning his shield, he said, "Don't worry, Asriel- I'll try and smother the flames with my shield!"

"I found a fire extinguisher!" Connie shouted, spraying Asriel with the white foam. Nearly all the flames were gone before Sans finally re-appeared in the living room.

"Alright, I got the first aid kit…" he said, looking up. For a second, he was confused about where all of the previous flames had went.

"Someone just kill me _please_ ," Asriel moaned.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I know how to use these things… unless _Sans_ would like to help," Steven said a bit angrily, looking at Sans.

"Hey, I brought you the first aid kit, didn't I?" he argued. Sighing, Steven turned back to Asriel and opened up the first aid kit… but then he threw it on the ground.

"Hey, we don't even _need_ that!" Steven exclaimed. "I HAVE HEALING POWERS!" In one swift movement, Steven licked his hand and stuck it on Asriel's fur. He shuddered, but within seconds, he was instantly healed.

"W-wow… thanks, Steven," Asriel stuttered in amazement. "How did you do that?!"

"Well, I got that power from my mom," Steven replied, lifting up his shirt once again. He started to continue, but he was interrupted by Papyrus, who had returned from the kitchen with a bucket of water.

"I'LL PUT THE FIRE… OUT?" He asked, confused. "WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FIRE?"

"It's gone. Obviously," Sans answered. "Don't you have eyes?"

"SANS, BE QUIET. THIS IS SERIOUS!"

"Yeah, I know," Sans said, turning to Asriel. "We didn't mean to give you a _bad time_."

"A what?" Asriel asked, and Sans rolled his eyes.

"Nevermind."

"Hey, Sans, Papyrus, why are there so many sticky notes attached to this sock?" Connie asked, changing the subject.

"SANS! I TOLD YOU WE WERE HAVING COMPANY!" Papyrus yelled. "WHY DIDN'T YOU PICK UP YOUR SOCK?!"

"I did," Sans said.

"PLEASE DON'T TELL ME THAT YOU PICKED IT UP AND PUT IT BACK DOWN WHERE IT WAS."

"Fine, I won't," Sans replied.

"YOU ARE THE WORST BROTHER EVER," Papyrus muttered, slapping his palm to his face.

Steven laughed. "Why do you even _need_ socks?"

"The same reason you need socks," Sans replied with a bit of annoyance in his voice. He started up the stairs. "I'm going to my room."

"SANS, WE HAVE COMPANY!" Papyrus argued.

"Ok? So I can't go to my room?"

"IT'S RUDE!" He argued. Sans just shrugged and shut his door. Papyrus sighed and turned around. "WE DON'T NEED HIM- WE CAN HAVE FUN ON OUR OWN!"

"What're we gonna do?" Connie asked him, sitting beside Asriel on the couch.

"EXCELLENT QUESTION!" Papyrus agreed. "WHAT DO PEOPLE USUALLY DO ON A SLEEPOVER?"

"Well, when Connie and I sleep over, we usually just eat junk food, stay up late, and watch a movie or two." Steven said.

"Once, during the winter, we stayed up and roasted marshmallows!" Connie exclaimed, remembering the event. "We had so much fun…"

"I've never really been on a 'sleepover'," Asriel said sadly.

"YES YOU HAVE!" Papyrus argued. "YOU'RE HERE NOW, AREN'T YOU?"

"KEEP IT DOWN, PAPYRUS!" Came a muffled shout from upstairs. Papyrus rolled his eyes.

"I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE MY BROTHER REFUSES TO DO ANYTHING FUN," He said, a bit quieter. "ALL HE EVER DOES IS SLEEP, BE LAZY, OR MAKE PUNS."

"I find his jokes kinda funny," Steven said.

"LISTEN TO THEM ABOUT 10 TIMES A DAY FOR YOUR ENTIRE LIFE. EVEN AS A BABY. THEN WE'LL SEE HOW YOU LIKE THEM." Everyone laughed.

"Hey, Papyrus?" Connie asked. "Where are your parents at?"

Papyrus stopped laughing and looked at Connie. "WHAT WAS THAT? YOU WANT SOME PIE? LUCKILY, TORIEL GAVE ME SOME PIE ABOUT A WEEK AGO THAT I NEVER GOT AROUND TO EATING!" Papyrus suddenly got up went into the kitchen, starting to heat up a cold pie he had pulled out of his fridge.

"Connie, I think that might be one of those personal questions Sans was talking about," Steven said. "You know, the ones that are rude to ask."

"I didn't mean to upset him," Connie noted nervously. "Maybe we should try and come up with something else to do to help him forget I ever said that."  
"Don't worry," Asriel said, "My mom's pie can fix any amount of bad feelings!"

"Let's hope you don't eat it all this time!" Steven said, smiling. Asriel blushed.

"Sorry about that…" he apologized.

"Well, we'll get to try you mom's pie _this_ time!" Connie noted

"You know, I'd tell you a pi joke," they heard from upstairs, "but I only know 3.14159265359-"

"SANS, NOT NOW!" Papyrus shouted from the kitchen. The sound of a trombone emitted from the room, playing the classic, three-note tune usually heard in the instance of an unfortunate event. Papyrus sighed once more, continuing into the living room with four plates of pie. "SANS, IF YOU COME DOWN STAIRS, YOU CAN HAVE SOME PIE!"

There was no reply. Papyrus sat on the couch besides Connie, giving the other three their plates.


	6. 6 - Stevonnie

"Thanks, Papyrus," Steven said, hoping to raise the skeleton's spirits, but to no avail. Trying to push the thought out of his head, Steven grabbed his fork and took a bite of the pie, savoring the sweet favor of the butterscotch cinnamon.

"Asriel, this is amazing!" Connie said, with her mouth half full. "I almost regret leaving the Ruins."

"Now do you see what I was talking about?" Asriel asked, taking a bite.

"HEY, CAN I ASK A QUESTION?" Papyrus asked, unknowingly changing the subject. Steven nodded. "YOU SAID AT GRILLBY'S THAT YOU HAD DIFFERENT POWERS- HOW DO THEY WORK?"

"Well, I'm not sure how they _work_ ," Steven started, "but I know I can activate them using my gem and that they work depending on how I feel."

"What can you do again?" Asriel asked, intrigued.

"I can float, summons my shield, bubble gems, open my mom's old room, heal, fuse-"

"Oh, Steven!" Connie exclaimed. "I know what we should do!" Excitedly, Connie leaned over and whispered something in Steven's ear. They both started freaking out.

"WHAT? WHAT IS IT?!" Papyrus yelled. Sans stuck his head out of the door.

"PAPYRUS!" He shouted. "PLEASE BE QUIET!"

"Sans!" Steven said, standing up. "Will you please come down for just a quick second? Connie and I wanna show you something!" Rolling his eyes, Sans started down the staircase, working to take a seat besides Papyrus. Steven and Connie both got up and stood in the center of the room, whispering hectically as they tried to put a small act together.

"I don't have all day, kid," Sans said, and the two stop talking.

"Ok, ok," Connie said. "Ready, Steven?" He nodded, smiling. Grabbing her hand, he and Connie started to dance swiftly around the room, causing a bright, luminous pink glow to shine from his gem. Putting their heads together, both of the children disappeared only to reveal white outlines of their bodies- forms of light, merging into one large person. Within seconds, the white outline formed into a large, beautiful being. Asriel's jaw dropped, as did Papyrus's. Even Sans widened his eyes.

"Whoa, what the hell, kid," Sans started, but Papyrus slapped the back of his head.

"SANS, LANGUAGE!" He shouted. Sans rolled his eyes for about the 20th time that night.

"Alright, _mom_ ," he replied, taking another look at the figure.

Looking back and forth, Stevonnie studied her new peers- she could tell by Steven and Connie's excitement that she would enjoy meeting these new friends. "So, what do you think?" she asked. "Pretty cool, right?"

"How did you DO THAT?!" Asriel exclaimed, running over to the being. "S-steven? Connie?"

"Stevonnie," she answered, examining the lit-up look in Asriel's eyes. The look she had yearned to see for the longest time- the Crystal Gems had looked the same way when they first met her, but now, the only one who was ever excited by her appearance was Garnet. Unfortunately, she didn't get to exist that often… what a weird thought, considering existence a lucky occurrence. However, she was pulled out of her daydream by Papyrus.

"PLEASURE TO MEET YOU, STEVONNIE!" He shouted, also running up to her. "DO YOU… REMEMBER ME?"

"Yes and no…" Stevonnie said. " _I've_ never met you, but _they_ have, so technically, I'm not supposed to remember you, since we never really met in the first place… but I still do. Does that answer your question?"

"I… GUESS SO," Papyrus said, unsure. Before he could go in, Sans jumped in.

"So you're like, a completely different person?" he asked.

"Yeah," Stevonnie said, remembering Garnet's words. "'A fusion is greater than the sum of their parts'- that's what makes each one so unique!"

"What's a fusion?" he asked, crossing his arms.

Stevonnie sighed. "A fusion is the combination of two Gems or more- but because Steven is half human, he managed to fuse with Connie for some unknown reason. I mean, even _I_ don't know how, and I'm literally their fusion! It's… weird. It's special. It makes me feel… special."

"So he can fuse with any human he wants?" Asriel asked.

"Well, if you're talking about Steven, then, well, yeah, I suppose so!" she replied, smiling.

"CAN YOU FUSE WITH ME?" Papyrus asked. Stevonnie laughed.

"It doesn't work that way, Papyrus," she explained. "You're a skelet-"

"YOU CAN STILL TRY!"

"Papyrus, she said no," Sans said, grabbing his brother's shoulder. He slumped them sadly.

"Do you know any other 'fusions'?" Asriel asked.

"Yeah, tons!" Stevonnie said. She started counting them on her fingers. "Garnet, Sardonyx, Sugilite, Opal, Alexandrite, Smo- huh? Smoky Quartz? Who's Smoky Quartz? Seriously? How come? Why didn't you tell me- but you- I- just _listen-_ BE QUIET! YOU'RE RUINING THE MOMENT!" Suddenly, the fusion's body once again turned to light, and flashed before the monsters as Steven and Connie fell back into existence.

"Hey, kid, are you OK?" Sans asked, as he tried to help Connie up. Steven got to his feet, turning to his friend.

"I- I'm sorry-" he started, but Connie held up her hand, and he stopped talking.

"Please, don't be," she said, smiling. "That was fun!"

"Heh, yeah," he agreed, the tension melting away. Asriel and Papyrus sat down beside them, everyone sitting in a circle on the floor- even Sans.

"I WANNA DO THAT!" Papyrus shouted excitedly.

"That did look really fun!" Asriel agreed, looking up at Papyrus.

"Heh, too bad we aren't all half magic-rock," Sans said, and everyone laughed.

"SERIOUSLY THOUGH- YOUR POWERS ARE SO COOL!" Papyrus said. "BUT- WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW- I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ALSO HAS AMAZING POWERS! WATCH AND BE AMAZED!"

"Hey, bro, I don't think you should be experimenting with that right now-" Sans started, but Papyrus had already stood up. Closing his eyes, he focused all of his energy on one action- but no one could tell what he was trying to do. About a minute passed before he opened his eyes back up.

"I DID IT! NYEH HEH HEH! I TURNED YOU BLUE- THAT IS MY ABILITY!"

"What do you mean?" Steven asked, confused.

"YOUR SOUL! IT'S BLUE NOW!" Papyrus bragged.

"What does that do?" Connie asked.

"It's an attack strategy," Sans explained, "but since no one's fighting right now, it's kinda useless."

"IT WON'T BE USELESS FOR LONG! I JUST HAVE TO FIND A HUMAN TO FIGHT!" Papyrus said. Sans crossed his arms.

"You really are obsessed with this, aren't ya?" he asked. Papyrus nodded. "Well, then, how about this- tomorrow, I'll show you how to set up puzzles. You know, traps for humans and stuff."  
"THAT WOULD BE EXCELLENT!" Papyrus exclaimed, hugging his brother. Instead of pushing him away, Sans let him do it.

"Hey, speaking of tomorrow," Asriel started, "we're trying to get back to the surface. Would you happen to know where we need to go next?"

"Well, if I was you," Sans replied, "I'd go buy a couple of things from the store down the road and then head off to the waterfall. There are a couple of puzzles and stuff, but I'm sure, with you being Toriel's son and all, that you can handle it, Asriel."

"Hey! We can handle puzzles, too!" Steven argued, and everyone laughed.

"WELL, IT'S GETTING LATE ANYWAY… I SUPPOSE WE SHOULD GO TO BED AND REST NOW. TOMORROW IS GOING TO BE A FUN DAY!" Papyrus said, standing up. "SANS, CAN YOU-"

"You seriously can't go _one night_ without a freaking story?" Sans asked. His brother shook his head slightly, and Sans groaned. "Alright, _FINE…_ you're such a baby sometimes."  
"YOU DON'T REALLY MEAN THAT."

"Yes, I do."

"Um…" Steven said. The brothers looked up, seeming to remember that they had company.

"Alright, I'll get ready for _Fluffy Bunny,_ " Sans said, annoyed. He stood up, and Papyrus turned to Steven.

"THAT'S MY FAVORITE STORY!" He exclaimed.

"Sounds… fun…" Connie said, trying to make him feel better. However, he didn't seem hurt in the first place.

"WELL, SINCE WE DON'T HAVE ANY GUEST ROOMS, YOU GUYS CAN SLEEP IN MY ROOM, STEVEN AND CONNIE… OH, AND ASRIEL! CAN'T FORGET ABOUT YOU!"

"I'm cool with that," Steven said, standing up and stretching his arms.

"Well, they definitely weren't gonna stay in my room, if that's what you thought," Sans said, starting up the stairs. "And NO STAYING UP LATE."

"Fine," Connie said, pretending to be upset. Steven giggled.

"Not even for a little bit?" whined Papyrus, slumping his shoulders.

"No," he replied.

"Who put you in charge?" Connie asked playfully.

"I did," Sans retorted coldly, no longer seeing the humor in it. Connie quieted.

"But… b-but…" Papyrus said, sniffling. Sans groaned.

"FINE, but only while I read your stupid story."

"Sans, why are you so grumpy all of a sudden?" Asriel asked. Sans glared at him.

"Well, maybe it's because I'm sick of always having to be the p- ugh, never mind… you guys wouldn't understand it anyway."

"Geez," Asriel whispered to Steven, crossing his arms. "Why is he so upset all of a sudden?"

"I don't think he wants us to know," Steven replied. "It seems private…"

"Well, that doesn't give him the right to take his anger out on us. He could at least try to act happy," Asriel contradicted. Steven, hoping to end the conversation, shrugged. He was really getting to like Sans, and the last thing he wanted to do was listen to bad talk about him, especially when he was in earshot.

"You three coming?" Connie asked, she and Papyrus poking their heads out of the door.

"Yeah, for a second," Sans replied, glancing down at the two children a few steps below him. They thought he hadn't heard their conversation… well, they were wrong, Sans said, turning back around. Maybe he'd tell them another time… maybe they'd become close enough one of these days. Or not, he reminded himself- they were trying to get back to the surface. The only way to do that was to kill… Steven and Connie didn't seem like the type to do that, but then again, neither did any of the other humans at first. At least, that was what Undyne said happened when she had been little. Another thought popped up in his head, but he pushed it away, not wanting to break down again. Pulling himself together, Sans walked into Papyrus's room.

"I hope you weren't planning to sleep in that," he said.

"SO WHAT IF I WAS?"

"Papyrus, pajamas. Now."

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT," he huffed, yanking something out of his

drawer and walking into a closet that lay in the back of the room. Connie smiled.

"Hey, Sans?" she asked, and he looked over at her.

"Yeah?"

"Maybe you should go to bed… you seem a little upset," she finished.

"Hey, I want to hear him read 'Fluffy Bunny'!" Asriel argued. Connie glared at him, and he backed down. Sans started to say something, but Papyrus came back out.

"HAPPY?" He asked, and Sans nodded firmly. In one swift motion, he grabbed a small, purple book off of his brother's nightstand and sat down on the foot of the bed. Because there wasn't enough room for everyone, Steven and Connie sat on their knees beside the race car while Sans read the book.

"The end."

"THAT'S NOT THE END!" Papyrus exclaimed, annoyed. "AND YOU KNOW THAT VERY WELL!"

"It's the end for now… Papyrus, it's 11:30. You should've been asleep an hour and a half ago, and you know that… _very well_ ," Sans argued. Papyrus sighed, defeated.

"FINE." He got up and hugged his brother, who tried to pull away, but eventually gave in.

"Alright, I'm going to bed," Sans said, placing the book back on the nightstand and heading to his bedroom.

"Good night!" Connie and Steven called in unison. Sans shut the door, smiling. He started back toward his bedroom, but he stopped, thinking.

He waited a couple of minutes to the children's talking before shouting, "GO TO BED!"

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!" Papyrus called back. Sans smiled and sat on the ground, his back to the door. Within minutes, he was asleep.

Unlike Sans, Steven had trouble falling asleep. He and Connie lay on the floor, whispering to each other. "This is… kinda weird, huh?" he asked.

"Y-yeah… I wonder when we'll get home…" she replied. "Do you think we'll get in trouble?"  
"Why would we get in trouble?"

"Because this could be count as running away… we never _did_ get permission to use the Warp Pad, but we did anywa-"

"I do that all the time!" Steven argued. "Trust me, we'll get home soon, and there's no way we're gonna get in trouble for this."

"Well, if you're sure…" They were interrupted by the sound of loud snores.

"You think that's Sans?" Steven asked. They waited a couple second, listening.

"No… maybe it's Papyrus?" Connie suggested.

"NOPE! I'M NOT EVEN ASLEEP YET," he whispered, startling the two.

"Were you listening to that whole conversation?!" Connie asked, laughing.  
"MAAAAYBEEE…"

"I thought you were on the bed!" Steven said. "How did you get all the way over here without either of us seeing you?"

"WELL, IT WAS EASY… YOU TWO JUST WEREN'T LOOKING! NYEH HEH HEH!" He said, beaming. Now they all laughed.

"Hey, I think I know who's snoring," Connie whispered, and pointed to Asriel.

"Heh, oh well… c'mon, let's get to bed." he said, tugging on Connie's shoulder. "I'm tired… we've been running around all day."

"Wait," she said, "I have an idea." She stood up and grabbed another pillow from the other side of the room.

"HEY," Papyrus started, but Connie ran over to Asriel a quickly placed it on his face, muffling the noise.

" _Now_ we can go to sleep!" She said, laying back down beside Steven. They laughed, and in a few minutes, both of them (and Papyrus) were out like lights.


	7. 7 - Welcome to Waterfall

The sound of loud knocks on the door brought Steven back to reality, pulling him out of sleep.

"Hello?" he heard, the knocks getting louder. "Guys, WAKE UP!"

"Three more days," he heard Asriel moan. Sitting up, Steven stretched his arms.

"Wake up, Asriel," he yawned, looking beside him. Connie's eyes were wide open, as if she had been up for a while, but she was still laying down. Beside them Papyrus shot up like a rocket and ran over to the door.

"GOOD MORNING, BROTHER!" He exclaimed, looking up at Sans.

"Uh, hey," he said, looking into the room. He could see that everyone else was awake- except for Asriel.

"Asriel, it's time to wake up," He said, walking in and tugging on the blankets. Asriel turned over.

"It's too early…" he groaned. Sans narrowed his eyes and yanked the covers off, startling Asriel out of his dream.

"Wake up NOW!" He shouted. Asriel jumped out of bed.

"Ok, ok, I'm up!" He laughed, ignoring Sans's anger. Steven laughed, too, helping Connie up.

"You've got a big day ahead of you," Sans continued, looking at them. "You said you gotta get to the surface? Well, then, you shouldn't be sleeping in 'till 11:00. I told you guys to go to bed."

"Heh, sorry about that…" Connie said, standing beside Steven. Sans wandered into the kitchen, looking for Papyrus, and the three followed him.

"What's for breakfast?" Steven asked, suddenly hungry.

"We don't really have anything… you can have some Temmie Flakes if you want," he replied, pulling a box out of a cabinet.

"Yum!" Asriel said, taking a seat at a small table that lay on the far side of the room.

"I've never had those before," Connie noted, sitting beside him.

"Yeah, I've never heard of _Tem_ ," Steven said, grinning.

"Good one, kid," Sans said, handing him a bowl.

"HAVE YOU BEEN SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME WITH MY BROTHER?" Papyrus asked, once again startling Steven. Steven shook his head slightly.

"I was just _kitten_ around, Papyrus," he replied.

"ALRIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH," Papyrus huffed as Sans started laughing.

"Oh, and what're you gonna do? _Pun_ ish him?" Sans said.

"SANS-"

"Maybe send him to the- _pun_ geon?"  
"SANS, I SWEAR TO GOD, IT'S TOO EARLY FOR THIS."

"Aw, come on, Pap- you're smiling and you know it."

"I KNOW, AND I HATE IT."

"Hey, these are actually pretty good," Connie said, breaking up the argument. She elbowed Steven, who was still laughing at the two.

"Yeah, they're better than you'd expect," he agreed, taking another spoonful.

"I thought you'd like it," Sans said, pushing the box to the middle of the table. They spent the rest of the morning talking and eating Temmie Flakes, until it was time to depart.

"Hey, do you guys have anymore Temmie Flakes? You know, for the road?" Asriel asked, handing Connie her backpack.

"Dude, you literally ate five bowls," Sans said. "We don't have anymore."

"Alright…" he said, laughing. "Sorry about that."

"WELL, I SUPPOSE IT'S TIME TO SAY GOODBYE…" Papyrus said, sadly. "ARE YOU SURE YOU HAVE TO GO?"

"Sorry, you know we have to get back to the surface," Steven argued, looking up at him. Papyrus sighed.

"FINE…" he said, looking away. "WE'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER YOU!"

"Bro, I'm sure we'll see 'em again," Sans said, turning back to the three. "Hey, Steven, Connie, Asriel… try and stay safe out there. There are a lot of monsters who dislike humans… be prepared for anything. Trust me, it'll help."

"Thanks, Sans," Steven said, "And thanks, Papyrus."

"YOU'RE WELCOME!" Papyrus said, striking a pose. Sans laughed.

"Alright, you guys should get going… good luck!"

"Bye!" The three called out in unison, and they started off towards the waterfall.

"That was nice," Steven said, walking beside Connie.

"They were a little strange… but it was still a lot of fun!" She agreed, smiling.

"I can't wait to get to the barrier!" Asriel exclaimed, barely containing his excitement. More seriously, he said, "It'll take more than one soul to cross… so Stevonnie can cross over, right?"

"I'm not so sure, Asriel… a fusion is a combination into one," Connie said, looking at Steven worriedly. "I didn't know about _that_ rule."

"Well, we can always try!" Steven said in an attempt to raise her spirits. "We'll just have to wait and see…"

"Hey, have you ever tried to fuse with a monster, Steven?" Asriel asked, an idea popping into his head. Steven started to reply, but Connie cut them off.

"Hey, Asriel, Steven, come look at this flower!" She called from down the path. The two ran over to her, bending down to inspect it.

"Hey, Asriel, Steven, come look at this flower!" it said, in a high-pitched voice.

"Oh, that's an echo flower!" Asriel declared.

"Oh, that's an echo flower!" it repeated. The three laughed along, and so did the flower.

"That's kinda cool," Steven said. "It looks like this place is filled with so many of them."  
"It looks like this place is filled with so many of them," the flower repeated, but instead of the high pitch it used on Connie and Asriel, this one seemed more… upset. Distraught, even.

"Hey, what happened to it?" Steven asked.

"I don't know… it's kinda weird for it to act that way," Asriel said.

"I don't know… it's kinda weird for it to act that way." The echo flower was now back to it's normal tone.

"C'mon, this is starting to freak me out," Connie said, and the others nodded, continuing down the path.

"The lighting here is so cool," Steven noted, holding his arm out as to let it soak in the blue light.

"Yeah, but it's getting darker…" Asriel said, squinting. "The walls here seem to cast a glow, though- AGH!"

"Asriel?!" Connie asked, worried.

"I'm fine!" He laughed back. "Don't worry- I just fell into the water!"

"Is it deep?" Steven called.

"No, it's really shallow… I think we have to walk across it! There doesn't seem to be a bridge."

"That's fine with me!" Steven exclaimed, running ahead. A large splash sounded from ahead, and reluctantly, Connie followed, stepping into the water.

"It's cold!" Connie laughed, holding her arms out in front of her. "Where are you guys at?"

"We're over here!" Steven shouted, holding his arm out. He grabbed her hand, pulling her out of the water. "You OK?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine!" she said, smiling.

"Come on, let's keep moving!" Asriel said, running up ahead.

"Wait for us!" Steven said, hurrying to catch up. The trail seemed to go on for a while, but eventually, they reached another small room.

"Hey, I can see again!" Connie said, observing their surroundings. Ahead of them, four small flowers lay arranged into a square. The upper left corner held an assortment of different paths leading to the other side of a stream- though none of them were connected.

"It's a puzzle!" Asriel exclaimed, picking one up. "I think we have complete one of the paths with these flowers!"

"Cool!" Steven said, picking one up. "That sounds easy enough."  
"What if we get it wrong?" Connie asked, and Asriel pointed to a small, golden bell on the far wall.

"Then we ring that bell, and the flowers will return to their original spots!"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Steven asked, placing a flower into the water. It didn't do anything. "How do we know if it's right?"

"The flowers will open up, creating a bridge. Otherwise, we have to reset the puzzle," Asriel concluded, placing his flower next to Stevens. Connie walked over with one in her hand, inspecting the arrangement.

"Where should I put this? I don't see pattern," she said, confused. Asriel pointed to a square, and she laid hers there, still looking for a pattern.

"I don't think we did this right," Steven said, also confused.

"Yeah we did! Don't you see it?" Asriel said, running over with another flower. He pointed to a place beside the third flower, laying his there. Suddenly, the all opened up and hardened into one, long bridge.

"That's one weird looking bridge!" Connie said, laughing, as she walked across the blossoms.

"I don't think I would've caught that if you hadn't pointed it out," Steven noted, looking back one more time at the puzzle. "You really _do_ have an eye for puzzles!"

"Heh, thanks!" Asriel beamed, as he walked along the bridge. The three headed off into the darkness once more, feeling their way along the wall.

"Why is it so dark in here?" Connie said, frustrated.

"I don't know… it's kind of annoying," Asriel huffed. "How long have we been walking?"

"Ten minutes? Twenty?" Steven guessed. Asriel groaned.

"I'm hungry…" he said after a while. "Do you guys have anything to eat?"

"You eat a lot, don't you?" Connie said, pulling out a granola bar and holding it out to Asriel. He shrugged, opening it up.

"I just realized, we don't even know where the barrier _is_ ," Steven said, looking towards Asriel.

"I'm pretty sure I know where it is…" Asriel started, but he didn't say anything after that. The three continued in silence, until, more blue light flooded into the cave.

"Is there another puzzle?" Connie asked, stopping at the edge of a stream.

"Not that I can see," Asriel said, inspecting the river. "Hey, see, there's a bridge right there."

"C'mon," Steven said, walking across it. From the other side of the room, they heard a loud bang, like a large door shutting.

"What was that?" Connie asked.

"I don't know… hey, why is that large field there?" Asriel asked, pointing out a patch of tall, green-blue grass.

"I think we have to go through it," Steven guessed. Reluctantly, they continued onward, until they heard a voice.

"So," they heard, "I was passing through Snowdin last night…"

"EXCELLENT!" The second voice sounded a lot like Papyrus. "ALTHOUGH, I DIDN'T SEE YOU… WHERE WERE YOU AT?"

"Let me get to that part, Papyrus," said a woman's voice. "I was thinking… you told me you wanted to be in the Royal Guard when you grow up?"  
"YES! IT'S MY DREAM!" Papyrus exclaimed from the other side of the wall.

"Well, rules are rules… you can't join yet. But how would you like to help us out?"

"YES! ANYTHING, !" They heard. Steven looked over at Connie worriedly, and she shrugged anxiously.

"I couldn't help but overhear something. I was pretty sure it was you… tell me, you wouldn't happen to have seen any humans around here lately, have you?" asked Undyne.

"UM…"

"I know you have- I'm not asking you to turn 'em in or anything. Don't worry about that, we'll take care of it… Tell me, Papyrus, what they look like and where they went."

"Oh, geez," Steven said, but Connie clamped his mouth.

"UH… WELL, YOU SEE, UNDYNE… UM… TH-THEY WENT TOWARDS THE RUINS!" Papyrus exclaimed from the other side, and the three sighed of relief. "ONE OF THEM W-WAS WEARING A… GREEN HAT. AND THE OTHER WAS WEARING Y-YELLOW MITTENS."

"Oh, really?" Undyne asked. From the other side, Papyrus nodded, but the children couldn't see that. Sighing, she continued. "Alright, if that's how you wanna play… thanks for your contribution."

"N-NO PROBLEM…" Papyrus continued, obviously nervous. Footsteps sounded from the other side, but they stopped suddenly.

"Papyrus? Can I tell you something?" There was a pause before she continued. "I don't appreciate liars."

"LYING? WHO'S LYING? I'M NOT LYING! LYING IS BAD, MY BROTHER TOLD ME THAT!" Papyrus argued. Undyne huffed and marched away. A few minutes passed before there was a small sigh and the sound of small footsteps. Seconds later, Asriel's phone rang.

"ASRIEL!" Papyrus shouted. "CAN I TALK TO STEVEN AND CONNIE FOR A SECOND?!"

"S-sure…" Asriel stuttered, baffled by the previous events. He handed the phone to the two humans, turning on speaker mode.

"What do you need, Papyrus?" Steven asked, pushing the past moments out of his head.

"I THINK IT WOULD BE BEST IF YOU AVOID WEARING ANY GREEN HATS OR YELLOW MITTENS UNTIL YOU LEAVE- AND DON'T ASK WHY!"

"That's a weird request…" Connie started, attempting to act clueless.

"JUST DO WHAT MY BROTHER SAID AND STAY SAFE." Then there was a click, and Steven handed the phone to Asriel.

"I think we should hurry up and get out of here," Steven said. "I don't think that Undyne woman likes us very much."

"I think she's a human hunter," Asriel said. "She is a part of the Royal Guard."

"Is it because of that whole 'getting to the surface' thing?" Connie asked, and Asriel nodded sadly.

"Hey, don't worry!" Steven said. "We always have my shield- and if we have to, we can always use Mom's sword or Stevonnie to fight." At the sound of Stevonnie's name, Connie's eyes lit up, and Asriel smiled with DETERMINATION.

"Come on, Asriel, lead the way!" Steven said, stepping aside. Asriel nodded firmly and stepped ahead of the two.

"Right… from here, we need to go the Hotland." he said, pointing forward. "That's over there… that's where the lava and the Core are."

"The Core?" Steven asked.

"Trust me- you'll know it when you see it," Asriel said, continuing onward.

"Ok…" Connie said, glancing at Steven.

"C'mon, let's go," he said, and he and Connie followed Asriel into the darkness. It took a few minutes of wandering for the ominous, blue glow to return to the cave.

"Look, there are more of those Echo Flowers," Connie said, bending over.

"Oh, wow, there's a ton of them!" Steven exclaimed, standing beside her.

"Hey! I found a river!" Asriel shouted from the other side of the path. The two looked up at him, observing the long strea,

"Alright, let's do this!" Steven said, he and Connie walking over to him.

"It's another simple puzzle," Asriel said, picking up another flower.

"Yeah, it's like the other one," Steven said, grabbing another one.

"That's a good thing, right?" Connie asked, worriedly.

Nodding, Asriel said, "Yeah, compared to this, all the other puzzles have been a challenge… this one's just a line." Asriel grabbed another flower and placed it in front of Steven's, laying down the fourth one in front of that. Within second, the golden petals opened up to create a long, sturdy bridge, similar to the last.

"Done!" Steven said, smiling at Asriel.

"C'mon, let's go!" He exclaimed, and they continued. Eventually, they reached a split trail. "Hey, look, there's a path here that goes off the main trail," Asriel said, pointing it out.

"Let's see where it leads," Steven suggested, taking off.

"Hey, STEVEN!" Connie shouted, laughing. A few minutes passed before the three reached a small cart standing all alone in a small room. There was another monster there, looking bored. When he saw the children, his eyes lit up.

"Nice Cream! Get your Nice Creams here!" he exclaimed, pretending to talk to no one in particular.

"Well, it's not a short cut," Connie started, "but I _am_ hungry!"

"Me, too," Steven and Asriel said in unison, laughing. Connie walked over to the cart, taking some gold from Asriel. She handed it to the sales man.

"I'll take three, please," she said, handing the man the gold.

"Actually, make it twenty!" Asriel said, and Connie flipped to him.

"What?!" She said, but he nodded firmly, and she sighed and turned around. "Alright, make it twenty."

"Y-yo want twenty?! Oh, wow!" the man said, beaming. He pulled out twenty blue bars and handed them all to Connie, who put the in her freezing pouch in her bookbag. "Hey, kids?" the man called as they started walking away. They turned back around, and he continued. "Don't forget your punch cards!"  
"Punch cards?" Steven asked. He nodded.

"For a free Nice Cream later on!" He said, handing one to Steven. He gave another one o Connie and to Asriel.

"Oh, well then… here ya go!" Asriel said, turning his back in. Connie and Steven laughed as the man pulled out another Nice Cream.

"Thank you!" they called, walking away. Asriel took his free popsicle and started eating it right away, finishing it in one bite.

"Whoa, how did you do that?" Steven asked, laughing.

"Please don't ever do that again," Connie moaned, and Asriel laughed.

"Well, let's go," he said between laughs, and Connie rolled her eyes playfully, trailing behind him. Once again, a few minutes passed before the conversation started back up.

"So, Asriel," Steven started. "I wanted to ask you a que-"

With that, a fast swoosh of air shot by the children, caused by the violent force of a long, blue spear. "STOP NOW, HUMANS!" Shouted who they assumed to be Undyne.

"Run!" Steven shouted, he and Connie taking off. Asriel followed as multiple spears continued to hurl at them, one narrowly missing Asriel's ear.

"AGH!" He shouted, ducking. Out of instinct, Steven grabbed Connie and Asriel, squeezing his eyes shut. Within seconds, a large, pink bubble appeared around the group.

"Whoa," Asriel started, but Connie interrupted.

"STEVEN! Quick, over there!" She pointed to a smaller room, and Steven nodded, he and her pushing their way into it. The three stumbled into the small sub cavern, breathing heavily.

"W-we made it…" Steven said, looking around.

"How did you make this bubble?" Asked Asriel, starry eyed. Steven smiled.

"With magic," he said, beaming.

"Actually, we aren't too sure how," Connie said, shrugging.

"L-let's try and avoid doing that again," Asriel breathed, catching his breath.

"Yeah…" Steven said, turning to Connie. "Who was that, anyway?"

"I think that was Undyne…" Connie said, looking at Asriel for confirmation.

"It was," he replied, with a firm nod.

"Well, let's keep going," she suggested anxiously. "The sooner we're out of here, the better."

"Yeah," said Steven, lowering the bubble and heading out of the small cavern. The three wandered along the path, making sure to keep an eye out for the Royal Guard. As the temperature rose, it became more clear to see that they were shortly approaching Hotland.


	8. 8 - Mercy

"It's so hot out!" Asriel groaned as they finally reached the end of the Waterfall.

"That's because of two things," Steven said. "One, we're near _Hot_ land- two, you're literally covered in fur."

Connie laughed. "Hey, when will we see the lava? It looks kinda dark out here… I thought Hotland would be glowing hot and bright."

"It will," Asriel said.

"Yeah, I think it's up ahead…" Steven said. "We've just gotta get through these wooden board-"

At that moment, a long, glistening spear shot through the floor inches in front of them. "Oh my gosh, did that spear just come from the ground?!" Connie asked, startled.

Asriel took off, and Steven grabbed Connie's arm. "It's Undyne again!" He said, frantic. "Run!"

The group was forced to split as they worked to dodge the huntress's attacks. "HELP!" Asriel cried, running towards Steven. Spears flew up in a circle, surrounding Asriel on all sides.

"I'VE GOT YOU!" Steven shouted, rushing towards him. Summoning his shield, he jumped up in the air and flung his weapon at the spears, knocking them out of the way just as he floated back down the platform. His shield clattered down below, poofing into a mist, while Steven grabbed Asriel's arm.

"Steven, look!" Connie said, once again finding an exit. Without a word, Asriel dragged Steven in and out of the hurling weapons.

"Slow down!" Steven said, struggling to maintain upright, but this only made Asriel tighten his grip and run even faster. Eventually, they made it to the other side, Connie joining them as they continued down the bridge.

Barely a minute had passed before the three stopped cold. "It's a dead end," Asriel choked, turning back to the humans. Slow, metal footsteps sounded from the distance, each one getting louder as Undyne went along.

"It ends here," she growled, holding up another glistening spear heroically. She pointed it at the children.

The three stood still, frozen with fear. Asriel tapped Steven on the shoulder, but the half-gem brushed him off. "Cut it out," he breathed as quietly as possible.

"Steven, Connie, look…"

"We can see it from up here, Asr-" Steven started.

"Steven, that's not what he means!" Connie said as Undyne shot a blast at the wood platform. "Oh, no!" Connie managed as the bridge snapped in half, leaving the three to plummet to their doom.

"STEVEN, BUBBLE!" Conne and Asriel shouted in unison. Using most of his strength, he managed another bubble about a second before they hit the ground. Asriel screamed in fear as they made hard contact with the concrete, breaking the bubble in half and tossing the children backward.

"Oohhh, my back," Connie moaned, working to sit up. Steven stood, searching for Asriel, who was still screaming in the distance.

"Asriel, we aren't falling anymore!" He shouted, squinting to see.

Gasping in surprise, Steven tripped over him, falling and scraping his knees. He turned to see Asriel, lying on the ground with his eyes clenched shut.

"Ya think he's OK?" Connie asked, bending over him.

"W-we should probably carry him…" Steven said, worried. Connie nodded in agreement, but just then, Asriel's eyes popped open.

"We really aren't falling anymore?" he asked anxiously. Steven looked down at him.

"Yeah…" he assured the young monster, lending out his hand. As he pulled Asriel up, he continued. "I think we're in some type of sewer."

"Asriel, are you OK?" Connie asked nervously.

Nodding faintly, he murmured, "Yeah, I'm fine…"

"C'mon, let's hurry up and get out of here," Steven said, walking along the stream.

"Yeah," Connie agreed, she and Asriel trailing behind him.

"And let's make sure we don't run into her again!" Steven looked around cautiously before continuing ahead.

"Why was she so _mean_ to us?" Connie asked, to no one in particular.

"Because she's a _Royal Guard_ ," Asriel explained. "One of her jobs is to capture humans so that Dad can use their souls for breaking the barrier. And he already has five of them… two more, and…"

"Hey! Look at this DVD case!" Connie said, interrupting Asriel. She was pretty sure she already knew what he was going to say, and she didn't want to hear it. "It's all clawed up."

"Oh, wow," Asriel said, bending over to see it. "I think someone really wanted that DVD!"

"It's called... 'Kissy Kitty Mew 3'?" Steven asked, chuckling.

"Oh, hey, look!" Asriel said, running to the other side of the sewer. "It looks like there was some sort of bar over here… and look in this cooler!" He pulled out two, blue packets labeled 'ASTRONAUT FOOD'.

"Why is this dummy sitting out here, away from the other junk?" Connie asked, moving ahead. Steven and Asriel ran up beside her, inspecting the dummy.

"But I'm no DUMMY! AHAHAHAHA!"

"D-did you say that?!" Steven asked, turning to Asriel, but it was obvious who said it as the Mad Dummy seemed to come to life, laughing maniacally.

"So, two humans and a monster fall down here and think they can mess with ME?" The dummy growled. "Well, you'd better think again! AHAHAHA!"

Sprouting from the water, tiny creatures resembling miniature dummies appeared, not a second later turning into magic (cotton) missiles.

"Oh, geez!" Steven exclaimed, summoning his shield. The tiny balls ricocheted off of it as Steven stepped in front of the others. Bouncing off, they hit the Mad Dummy right in the face.

"Argh, you dummies! Watch where you're aiming your magic!" it shouted, turning back to the children. "And you- Forget I said anything about MAGIC!"

More small dummies emerged from the stream, once again attacking the three. An idea popped into Connie's head. Pulling Rose's sword out of her backpack, she hit the white missiles back at the dummy. It wasn't necessarily attacking it, due to the fact that it couldn't lose damage and it was inanimate… no, it was more like annoying it by dodging its attacks.

Growling, Mad Dummy continued to summon more and more tiny dummies. Steven and Connie took turns protecting Asriel and deflecting the attacks, until-

"UGH! Let's try a different approach!" Mad Dummy conjured a bunch of small, red dummies.

"What does the red mean?!" Connie asked, but her question was answered when the launched themselves in a straight line parallel to the wall.

"Quick! There's an opening!" Asriel pushed the humans into a small space between the red ones, just barely making it beside them Another line appeared, coming in the opposite direction. The group stepped to the side, just as more white dummies started shooting again.

"ARGH! WE'RE GETTING NOWHERE!" Mad Dummy shouted as it was hit once more by his own magic. "HEY! DUMMIES!" Hundreds of white heads bobbed from the water, and the three stood, frozen with fear.

"There's no way we can go up against all of tho-" Connie started, but Mad Dummy interrupted her.

"YOU GUYS," it screeched, "ARE WORTHLESS! ALL OF YOU- ALL OF YOU!" For some reason, the smaller dummies seemed upset. "YOU'RE FIRED! ALL OF YOU!"

As the tiny dummies retreated, actual missiles took their place. Before anyone could react, the mechanisms launched themselves right at the group.

"Run!" Asriel shouted, taking off. The missiles switched direction, following him.

"Asriel!" Steven yelled, "head toward the Mad Dummy!"

"What?!"

"JUST DO IT!" Asriel nodded, anxious, as he headed straight for the dummy. At the last second, he jumped out of the way, and the missiles hit Mad Dummy, knocking him backward.

"UNBELIEVABLE!" it shouted, furious. His previously tan cloth now glowed a deep red. "UNBELIEVABLE! ARGH! IF YOU WANT A JOB DONE, YOU'VE GOTTA DO IT YOURSELF!"

Using magic, Mad Dummy hurled a single dagger at them, hitting the wall behind the three. Apparently, the Mad Dummy had terrible aim.

"WELL, THAT WAS MY ONLY KNIFE." It said. The children sighed, but there relief was brief- all at once, missiles, white dummies, and red dummies all appeared. "DID YOU REALLY THINK I'D GIVE UP THERE?! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

All of a sudden, a drop of what appeared to be water dropped on the dummy's head. However, it seemed to hurt it. More and more drops of the liquid fell onto Mad Dummy's head.

"ARGH! STOP THAT!" It shouted, but when it didn't end, the dummy shouted once more in anger, and left.

"Wh-wha?" Steven asked, confused. Connie looked up, gasping.

"There!" She said, pointing at a small ghost. He seemed to be crying, and he looked down at the three.

"Oh no… I made him go away… I'm sorry… oh, no," he said, looking upset. "Oh, no…"

"Thanks! Thank you so much!" Asriel said, relieved to be alive. The monster looked confused.

"D-don't feel bad, he was trying to hurt us," Steven said, relieved the fight was over.

"Oh… oh, ok… oh… I'm… gonna go home now… you can follow if you want. But, ummm… ummm…" instead of finishing, the ghost continued down the damp hall, making his way toward a far door.

"That was strange," said Asriel, looking at Steven.

"Let's go with him," Steven concluded, continuing forward. "He seems nice."

"Agreed," Connie said. "Maybe he can help us out of this place." With that, the three struggled to catch up with the monster, eventually reaching him as he passed through the door.

"Hey!" Steven called, and the ghost turned around.

"Oh," he said, "y-you came."

"Yeah," Connie said. "We were kind of wondering if you could help us."  
"Me? Help y-you…? Oh… ok." He turned to the children, smiling slightly.

"Would you happen to know the way to Hotland?" Asriel asked. "I thought I knew, but apparently…"

"Yeah, it's over there, the path on the right," the ghost instructed. "You just keep going east, and you'll find it eventually." He paused. "If you want… you can… come to my house."

"I don't see a problem with a quick visit!" Steven followed the monster, as well as Asriel, and, reluctantly, Connie trailed behind. The peaceful music of this tranquil place… it filled them with DETERMINATION.

"Well, here we are…" Napstablook led them down a narrow walkway. Before walking into the actual house, the ghost led the three on a detour to a small garden.

"Look at all those snails," Asriel said, looking over the fence.

"Oh, ew…" Connie said, looking over all of them. Steven laughed.

"Look, that one has a little hat!" He pointed to one of the snails, who was, in fact, wearing a small top hat.

"I want to eat one," Asriel commented, and the two humans turned to him.

"What?" Connie asked. "Eat a snail?"

"That is a little gross," Steven agreed. Ignoring the two, Asriel picked one up.

"PLEASE, don't eat that snail!" Connie said, stopping Asriel.

"But… Snail pie!" He argued, annoyed.

"S-snail pie?!" Napstablook asked, confused. Asriel nodded, and tears formed in the ghost's eyes.

"Aw, don't cry," Steven said, looking at Napstablook. "It's OK-"

"We'll make sure he doesn't eat your snails," Connie said, glaring at Asriel. He put his hands up defensively.

"I won't eat any!" He confirmed.

"See?" Steven asked, turning back to Napstablook.

"O-ok, I trust you…" Napstablook finished, feeling better. Asriel sighed as his stomach growled. The ghost turned back to the three. "I'm… gonna go…" he said, floating toward his house.

"Bye!" Connie and Steven called in unison, and Napstablook smiled.

"S-sorry…" Asriel called after him. He turned back to his friends.

"I say we leave, too," Asriel said.

"Yeah, OK…" Steven agreed.

"Sounds good!" Connie started walking, but Asriel stayed behind, observing the garden once more. Connie glared at him.

"NO!" She shouted, grabbing his arm. Steven shook his head in agreement.

Asriel sighed. "OK…"

"Now, where to?" Connie asked.

"Well, from here, we need to go… there!" Asriel concluded, pointing to a large path ahead of them

"Alright, let's go!" Steven exclaimed, running ahead.

"Ok!" Asriel and Connie called in unison, trailing behind him.

"So, Asriel, how do you know how to get to the Capital so well?" Connie asked.

"I used to live there," Asriel said, looking down.

"Oh, cool!" Steven said.

"I wonder how much farther it is…" Connie asked to no one in particular.

"Well, after Hotland, there's the spider bake sale, and then the core, and then the Judgement Hall… and then we'll be at the Capital! So… We should get moving." At that moment, Asriel's phone rang.

"Hello?" He asked, picking it up.

"HELLO HUMANS! HELLO ASRIEL!" Shouted Papyrus. "COULD YOU… UH… MEET ME BY UNDYNE'S HOUSE? IT'S RIGHT AFTER THE WATERFALL! THANKS, I'LL SEE YOU THERE!" With that, he clicked off, not giving anyone the chance to respond.

"Whelp, looks like we're taking a detour… let's go, it shouldn't be far," Asriel said, turning the other direction. They ended up back outside of Napstablook's house minutes later.

"Maybe Undyne lives here," Steven said, nervously. They knocked, but with no reply.

"Maybe she lives on the other side of this wall," Connie said, pointing to the barrier on the left of Napstablook's house. "Next to Napstablook!"

"Great, let's go!" Steven said. Asriel stood behind them as they continued on. They stopped, looking at him, as if to ask why he was staying.

"Well, because we're still here, can I…?"

"NO snails!" Steven shouted, laughing.

"Why do you want one so bad?" Connie asked.

"They look yummy!" He argued. "Maybe not to you, but to me!"

"Eww…" Connie couldn't help but comment, making a face.

"Still, no snails!" Steven said. With that, the three started toward Undyne's house, with no thoughts of what might lay ahead.


	9. 9 - Hanging with Undyne

Moments later, the three stood outside of a living structure in the form of some sort of fish. Sure enough, there stood Papyrus.

"HELLO THERE, KIDS!" He exclaimed. "NICE TO SEE YOU!"

"Papyrus, we're all older than you!" Steven laughed.

"WELL, NEVERTHELESS… HERE!" He thrusted a dog treat into Steven's hand. "GIVE THIS TO UNDYNE! SHE LOVES THESE!"

"Um, Papyrus?" Asriel started. "This is a d-"

"A WONDERFUL GIFT, I KNOW!" Papyrus finished, striking a pose. Steven laughed.

"C'mon, let's go," he said, looking down at the small skeleton. Papyrus turned to the door, knocking. Seconds later, the tall gladiator from before stood, armorless, her eyes lighting up at the sight of Papyrus.

"Hey, papyrus!" She said. "Are you ready for your special, super private, one-on-one youth training?"

"GREETINGS, UNDYNE! AND YES, I VERY MUCH AM! I EVEN GOT MY FRIENDS TO COME HERE!" He stepped aside, beaming at his clever idea. The three stood, speechless.

"H-humans…" Undyne commented to no one in particular. Taking a deep breath, Asriel was the first to speak.

"Hello! I- uh- I'm here, too…" he said in a small voice.

"Oh! Prince Asriel!" She said, baffled. "What are you doing here? I thought you and Queen Toriel were in the Ruins!"

"We wer- I was," he said, catching himself. "But me and my friends are making out way up to the surface now!" He smiled, proud.

"Your friends…?" Undyne towered over the two humans.

"H-hi!" Steven said. "I'm Steven, Steven Universe! And this is my friend, Connie! We've… kind of met already, if you want to count our encounter in the Waterfall."

"Wait," Undyne said. "There were three humans in the Waterfall… there are only to of you."

"Actually, I would be the third person…" Asriel said in a small voice. Undyne's eyes widened.

"O-oh… why don't… you four… come in?" She asked, gritting her teeth."

The group walked inside, observing Undyne's house. "So, where do we begin, _Papyrus?_ " She asked.

"BEFORE WE START, MY FRIEND WOULD LIKE TO GIVE YOU SOMETHING!" Papyrus exclaimed. "THEY BROUGHT IT COMPLETELY ON THEIR OWN! ISN'T THAT RIGHT, STEVEN?"

"Uh, yeah!" Steven agreed, handing Undyne the bone wrapped in blue ribbon. She took if from him, pretending to enjoy it.

"Wow, for me? Human, you're… so thoughtful," she said, dryly. "I'll put it with _all the others._ " Walking over to the far side of the room, she opened a drawer with at least 20 more versions of the dog treat. Connie slapped her palm to her face as Undyne dropped the gift in with the others.

"So, back to what I was saying-"

"WOOPSY DOOPSY! I JUST REMEMBERED! I HAVE TO… UM… GO TO THE BATHROOM!" he exclaimed. "YOU FOUR HAVE FUN!" With that, he ran to Undyne's window and jumped out of it. Steven broke down laughing while Connie sighed once more.

"So, now that _he's_ gone, we can get down to some real business," Undyne said.

"What type of business?" Asriel asked.

"Soul business," Undyne growled, looking at Steven and Connie.

"I-I'm not fully human…" Steven said, putting his hands up.

"A-and I'm his friend!" Connie jabbed a thumb over to Asriel, who smiled nervously.

"Not that kind!" Undyne said, laughing. Steven and Connie stood, scared.

"Th-then what kind?" Asriel asked in a small voice.

"About the Barrier… maybe you guys can stay here until there are more humans whose souls we can steal." Undyne smiled a bit, her face going hot.

"You-you're… sparing us?" Steven asked. Undyne shrugged.

"I don't know, it just… doesn't feel right to take _your_ souls. You know, you're lucky you're Asriel's friends," she said, "or else you would've been dead right now. So, why don't you guys just… stay?"

"We can't!" Steven argued. "We appreciate your offer, but… we have our own homes and families. We can't stay here."

"My mom and dad must be terrified!" Connie choked, the thoughts flooding her head.

"The Gems are probably searching the whole world for us…" Steven looked away quickly.

"I, uh… kinda live here. So I'm fine…" Asriel trailed off.

"Well then, if you two are so upset, you won't mind me TAKING YOUR SOULS ANYWAY!" Undyne's sympathetic look morphed into one of anger as she summoned a water spear from thin air. As if on cue, Papyrus stuck his head through the broken window.

"AW, MAN!" He said. "I WAS REALLY HOPING YOU GUYS COULD BE FRIENDS! I GUESS I WAS WRONG… UNDYNE JUST ISN'T UP FOR THE CHALLENGE!" Papyrus shrugged sadly and disappeared once more. Undyne glared at the empty space.

"Isn't up for the challenge?!" She growled. "YES I AM! LISTEN UP, HUMANS- WE'RE GONNA BE SUCH GOOD FRIENDS, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO THINK OF ANYONE BUT ME!" She picked up the entire refrigerator, holding it over her head.

"Why did you pick up the fridge?" Connie asked anxiously.

"BECAUSE I CAN!" She yelled.

"She's really scaring me," Asriel whispered to the two humans.

"Scared? SCARED?!" Undyne asked, shocking Asriel.

"Wait, you heard me-"

"MY APOLOGIES!" She yelled. "Here, take a seat, and I'll get you a drink!"

"O-ok…" the three murmured in unison.

Undyne set a variety of different options on the counter in front of them. "Go ahead and pick one!" She said, a little too enthusiastic.

"Alright," Asriel said, standing up- but before his feet even touched the floor, Undyne hurled a spear right at the table, missing the three by inches. They all shouted in surprise.

"DON'T STAND UP! You're a guest!" Undyne beamed. "Here, just… use the spear to pick a drink!"

Nervously, Connie picked up the spear and pointed it at the tea. "I chose the tea."

"I'll take… heh, is that sugar?" Steven asked.

"Sugar? You want sugar as a drink?" Undyne narrowed her eyes. "Steven, the sugar is for the tea… do I look like some kind of ice cream woman to you? Is that it? Do ice cream women walk around on the surface with spears and fighting spirit?! Are their themes PRELUDES TO DEATH?IS THAT IT, STEVEN UNIVERSE?!"

"Uh, yes?" Steven asked, nervous.

"Oh, really? That's awesome!" Undyne smiled, and Asriel picked up the spear. Swiftly, he pointed to the tea.

"I- I'll go with them," Asriel said.

"Alrighty!" Undyne started making the tea. "It'll take a moment for the water to boil." The four sat in an awkward silence for a while as the tea cooked. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Undyne turned to the three. "Here's your tea!"

"Thank you," Steven said, taking a cup.

"What kind is it?" Connie asked, as Asriel took a sip. He quickly swallowed it.

"HOT!" He said, instinctively, putting the cup down.

"Yeah, heat will burn your mouth, by the way," Undyne said. "Oh, and that's Golden Flower Tea. Asgore used to drink it with me all the time. That's why I made it- we're such great friends, maybe drinking the same beverage will make _us_ great friends!"

"PLEASE! IT'S HOT! HELP!" Asriel shouted.

"Here!" Connie pulled out a Nice Cream, and Asriel put it on his tongue.

"Tanks for da ice," he sighed.

"Well, now… where were we?" Undyne said, as if nothing had ever happened.

"Dat Teven and Connie aren't staying in da Underground cause dey'd miss deir families," Asriel said, dryly.

"Uh, yeah, that was about it…" Connie said, not daring to take a sip of the Golden Flower Tea.

"Um, Asriel, is your mouth OK?" Steven asked, concerned.

"No," he answered, sadly.

"That's twice in two nights you've been burned by food!" Connie couldn't help but laugh.

"When was the first time?" Undyne asked, intrigued.

"Papyrus's spaghetti," Steven replied. Undyne gasped.

"Papyrus's cooking lesson!" She exclaimed. "I completely forgot! Wait a second… he brought you here. Cooking brought that little skeleton and I closer together… and since he's not here to have it… YOU'LL HAVE TO HAVE IT FOR HIM!" Undyne wrapped her arms around the three kids, jumping into the air and landing on the counter. "LET'S GET COOKING!"

Swiftly, she pulled out an assortment of different ingredients, as well as some cooking utensils. She set a tomato in front of each child "NOW BEAT THAT TOMATO LIKE IT'S YOU WORST ENEMY!"

Reluctantly, Asriel started patting the tomato. Undyne's eyes narrowed. "YOU AREN'T DOING IT RIGHT!" She scooped up the ingredients and pounded them into a mush. "We'll… scrape that int a pot later. STEVEN! TURN THAT STOVE ON!"

Quickly, Steven put it on **'Low'**. "HIGHER!" Undyne shouted, and he set it to **'Medium'**. "COME ON, UNIVERSE, THAT'S NOT HOT ENOUGH!"  
"But this next one had a bad word on it!" Steven argued. Undyne glared at him, and, reluctantly, he set the stove to **'Fire from Hell'**. Suddenly, the pot burst into flames, and the house caught on fire.

"Oh gosh, I'll go get the fire extinguisher!" Connie said, coming back minutes later with a fire extinguisher. However, before she could use it, _it_ caught on fire.

"Ah! MY FUR!" Asriel shouted, as the flames licked his fur. In one swift motion, Undyne grabbed all three children and leaped out the door, just as the kitchen exploded, leaving the house a fiery mess.

"HA HA HA! SAFE AGAIN! IF YOUR FACE, HELL!" Undyne shouted behind her.

"P-please let's n-never do that again…" moaned Asriel sofly.

"I… oh jeez, who am I kidding?" Undyne hung her head. "Look, I'm sorry- I thought I could make you like me, but, I guess… friendships don't work that way. That's not how Asgore and I bonded. Hell, that's not even how Papyrus and I became friends!"  
"Can you please stop using the H-word?" Steven asked.

"Sure, but let me finish- I'm sorry I hurt you guys… I guess there really are challenges I'm not up for. Even the easy ones- surely it couldn't have been _that hard_ to become friends with you two losers if the prince did."

"Hey!" Connie exclaimed, and Undyne laughed.

"Don't worry," she started. "You may be losers, but… you have a lot of heart. Hold on to that- don't let anyone take that. Down here in the Underground, DETERMINATION is a very powerful thing. And I may not be able to force your friendship, but… maybe we can still be friends?"

"Of course!" Steven said, smiling. Undyne's eyes lit up, and she took out a small strip of paper, writing something on it.

"H-here, take this… it's my number. If you need me or little Papyrus for any reason, just call us up!" Undyne beamed, waving as the three walked off.

"Bye, Undyne!" They called, as their journey started up once more.


	10. 10 - To Hotland!

"Well, that was… interesting," Connie said.

"Strange and painful, but interesting," Asriel agreed dryly.

"Let's try not to do that again," Connie agreed.

"Now, what exactly is _in_ Hotland, Asriel?" Steven asked. Asriel turned to him.

"Well, there's a lab… but that's about it."

"I like science," Connie commented, raising her hand.  
"Not me," Asriel replied.

"Well, I don't really go to school, so I don't know that much about science," Steven concluded, continuing onward. "Wow, it's _really_ hot around here!"

"That's why it's called Hotland, Steven," Connie said. "But it is weird how the heat can be felt even miles away from it."

"Hey, look! There's a third path!" Before he let anyone reply, Asriel bounded down it.

"Asriel!" Connie called, but he was nearly out of sight, and she sighed, she and Steven straining to catch up. "Looks like we're all going now!"

"I'm fine with that!" Steven said, smiling.

"Steven, you're fine with everything in this place!" COnnie said, a bit annoyed, but also smiling. They finally caught up with Asriel, who was looking up at a strange person with a dark purple cloak concealing her body. They appeared to be standing in some sort of boat.

"Tra la la… hello," a mysterious voice sounded. It sounded female. "Would you care for a ride?"

"Can you take us to Hotland?" Steven asked, cutting Connie off, who was about to reject. The boat person tilted their head.

"I can take you near it, but not to it," the boat person sang.

"And how close would we be?" Connie asked.

"Approximately one mile within its radius," she replied.

"Hey, Asriel, about how far are we from Hotland now?" Steven asked, considering the boat person's offer.

"Five and a half miles," he replied after a moment's hesitation.

"Ok, I guess we'll go by boat," Connie said, reluctantly climbing in. The three children stepped into the boat, and it slowly started down the stream.

"Tra la la… no one know where the scientist went… tra la la…" the boat person stared ahead, as if they didn't say anything.

"Scientist?" Asriel asked.

"The man who speaks in hands… beware the man who speaks in hands… tra la la," she replied.

"Oh, you must mean W.D Ga-" Asriel started.

"Tra la la… we have arrived," the boat person interrupted, as the boat came to a stop.

"Wow, that was fast," Steven said, stepping off with Connie and Asriel. "Thank you!"

"It was a pleasure… tra la la!" the boat person sang, floating away.

"Well, I expected at least a few more minutes, at the very least," Connie huffed, confused.

"G-guys.." Asriel said, panting. "Guys, it's… way too hot out here…" with that, Asriel dropped to his knees.

"Asriel?!" Steven asked, but there was no reply.

"Oh, jeez, we need to find some water. NOW!" Connie said. Looking around, the two realized there was no place from which they could retrieve a beverage- unless Asriel wanted to drink some lava.

"Wait, I have an idea!" Steven said, licking his hand. Heroically, he stuck in on Asriel's fur, but to no prevail.

"W-water…?" Asriel asked wearily.

"Come on, let's get him to an air conditioned place! That laboratory can't be too far from here!" Connie exclaimed, trying to pick Asriel up. Steven tried, too, but the two just weren't strong enough.

"Connie, I think we're gonna need Stevonnie!" Steven shouted, frantic. Nodding firmly, Connie ran over to him, the two working fast. In one swift motion, the two phased into each other, forming the fusion. Quickly, she scooped him up and ran at full speed down the path to Hotland.

Asriel's phone rang, and continuing onward, Stevonnie reached for it, answering it. "H-hello?" she puffed.

"HELLO, ASRIEL! HELLO, HUMANS!" Papyrus shouted into the receiver.

"Papyrus, this is Stevonnie," she replied. "We're in the middle of something… now is not a good time!"

"HM, THEN WHERE'S ASRIEL? NO, NO, WAIT, LET ME GUESS! YOU GUYS ARE IN HOTLAND, AND BECAUSE OF THE HEAT, YOU'RE GIVING HIM A PIGGYBACK RIDE AS A FUSION!"

"No, just liste- oh, wait, yeah, that's actually pretty accurate," Stevonnie confirmed. "He's passed out, I'm on my way to someplace cold now… tell me, do you know where the lab is?"

"YES, BUT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, CAN GIVE YOU AN EVEN MORE SPECTACULAR OPTION!" He said, presumably striking his infamous pose.

"Well, what is it?!"

"YOU SHOULD BE BY SOME SORT OF SPIDER BAKE SALE, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN!" Papyrus started.

"Y-yeah, I think I see it…" she said.

"WELL, JUST GET SOME SPIDER JAM! THAT SHOULD COOL HIM RIGHT OFF!" he concluded.

"Excellent, thanks, Papyrus!" Stevonnie said. "Gotta go no- hey, wait a sec, why is this so expensive?!"

"WELL, WHAT IS THE PRICE, STEVONNIE?"

 _"999 gold?!"_

"HUH? WHAT WAS THAT, UNDYNE?" Papyrus left the phone for a second. "SORRY, HUMAN, BUT I MUST GO NOW- THERE IS BUSINESS I MUST TEND TO, AND A FUTURE ROYAL GUARDSMAN CANNOT BE STALLED!" With that, he clicked off.

"Ugh, why do I even bother?" Stevonnie muttered, looking around. Rushing forward, she entered a small a room with walls of rock. There were tons of platforms, each with bounce pads pointing in certain directions. Stepping on one, she was rocketed across the lava to the next platform, and she squeezed Asriel as to ensure her grip.

"Wh-wha…?" Asriel asked wearily.

"It's OK, just try to hang in there," said Stevonnie, navigation the puzzle. Asriel's phone rang again, but she ignored, focusing on keeping him alive and making it to the lab. Finally, she found a compatible route and took one last jump to the other side.

"Heh, that was kinda crazy, wasn't it? Yeah, it was… well, at least we're alive. At least _I'm_ alive," Stevonnie corrected herself, noticing Steven and Connie having a conversation. "Let's get you somewhere cooler, Asriel."

The halls became dimmer and a tad bit cooler, as more and more spider webs started appearing. The tranquil pitter patter of water drops in the distance… the rhythmic beat of their breathing in unison… the thought that _she_ could do something for _them_ … it all filled Stevonnie with DETERMINATION.

"Hee hee hee…" giggled a distant voice. Small footsteps sounded from inches away. Remaining brave, Stevonnie took a sharp breath and quickened her pace. "Hee hee hee… such silly humans, tee hee!"

Heh heh… there she goes, carrying that little monster.

I bet she killed him.

Oh, how sad when the king hears of his son's death.

Oh, how sad when the human will be killed.

Oh, how sad… how sad… tee hee hee!"

From out of nowhere, a tall, female spider pounced from the shadows, standing before Stevonnie. Taking a step back, she gasped, inspecting the monster. The spider resembled some sort of doll, with her pigtails and skirt. "Finally, I have a playmate! Tee hee! You think you are too good to buy my delicious treats, human? Am I not good enough for you? No, no… I hear you're just _stingy!_ "

Putting Asriel down, Stevonnie took Rose's sword out of Connie's backpack and summoned Steven's shield, heroically guarding the young monster behind her. "I don't believe we've properly introduced ourselves… _I'm Muffet._ "

"Muffet?" Asriel muttered, his eyes flickering open a tad. "St-Stevonnie… the donut…"

"Donut?" Stevonnie asked, frantic, but a collection of tiny spiders emerged from the darkness, each one lunging at the fusion. Swiftly, she worked to slash through them, but at the last second, she stopped her blade, not wishing to hurt anyone. Turning back to the tall spider, she quickly put the shield up in front of her, blocking the tiny spiders. Her other hand reached into Connie's backpack, searching for something shaped like a donut.

"Oooh, what are you looking for, human?" Muffet asked, summoning more spiders. "Another weapon?"

Gripping the pastry, Stevonnie pulled the Spider Donut out of the backpack, holding it up heroically. "Muffet!" She called. "I _donut_ wanna fight you!"  
"Was that a pun?"  
"It wasn't supposed to be."

Muffet sighed. "Very well then… my apologies for assuming your were stingy, human. Turns out you might be OK, tee hee! Oh, how sad… how sad… my spiderlings will go hungry tonight. How sad…" in one swift motion, the spiderlings disappeared, as did Muffet.

"Oh, jeez," Stevonnie moaned. "Why are there so many fights in this place?" She turned back to Asriel. "You OK?"

But he didn't answer. Swiftly, she scooped him up and rocketed forward, sweating anxiously. "Hang in there, Asriel!" The dim cavern slowly morphed into a bright canyon as the fusion ran along the path. Eventually, she reached a empty area, containing nothing but a single water dispenser. How strange it was to see this machine isolated out here on its own- but at the moment, it would have to suffice. Working fast, Stevonnie lowered Asriel to the ground and retrieved a small cup of water. She opened his mouth and poured it in slowly, giving him the opportunity to swallow. The next few minutes went on like this, with Stevonnie gathering more and more water, until Asriel finally stood up.

"Th-thanks, guys…!" Asriel said, breathing heavily.

"It's… no problem," Stevonnie said, as her body slowly phased back into light. The fusion split, leaving Steven and Connie laying on the red rock in front of the young monster.

"Well, that was pretty cool, right?" Steven said, chuckling.

"STEVENWEALMOSTDIED!" Connie shouted, but she, too, couldn't help but smile. She took a sharp breath. "Asriel. Thank you- you know, for the donut."

"Hey, it was the least I could do!" Asriel replied, smiling with them. Helping the humans up, the three continued down the rocky pathway.

"Oh, now we find the lab!" Connie huffed, as they stood before the large building.

"Well, better late than never," Steven said, thinking positively. He walked up to the door, knocking on it softly. When there was no reply, the three turned around, but the metal door opened, despite there being no one there.

"C'mon, let's go!" Asriel said, bounding ahead.

"Are you sure we're allowed to go in?" Connie asked.

"If we weren't, the door wouldn't have opened," Steven pointed out, and Connie nodded in agreement. The three walked into the cool room as the door slammed shut.

"Oh, this is heaven!" Asriel said, embracing the cold.

"Definitely better than out there," Steven agreed, motioning to the door. Looking up, they all saw a large screen- and on it was all of them.

"Oh, gosh, we're being watched!" Connie said. "We're gonna get in trouble, and-"

"Connie!" Asriel laughed. "This is Alphy's lab, we're not gonna get in trouble. Knowing her, she's probably been watching us the whole time."

"And you're OK with that?!" She asked, nervous.

"I… guess we don't really have a choice?" Asriel replied, unsure.

"Um, guys, look at this!" Steven said. "It's 'Kissy Kitty Mew' 1 and 2!"

"I suppose that explains the mystery of the clawed up DVD back in the dump," Asriel noted.

"Yeah, no kidding," Connie said, continuing forward. From far off, a whirring noise sounded, getting louder and louder as something approached. Seconds later, an elevator door opened, and out of it

stepped a small, yellow creature, wearing nerdy glasses and a lab coat.

"G-gah!" Alphys shouted in surprise, looking up at the unexpected visitors.

"Hello, !" Asriel shouted, smiling at her.

"O-oh, it's just you, prince Asriel!" She said in relief.

"Oh, um… well, me and my friend Steven are here with him…" Connie said in a small voice, looking up at Alphys.

"Hi!" Steven said, waving his hand.

"Oh, i-it's nice to meet you t-two… one moment…" reached over and flicked some sort of switch, flooding the room in a much brighter light. "There we go!"

"Wow," Steven said, squinting as his eyes got used to the light.

"Anyway, it's… a pleasure to meet you, ," Connie said, smiling a bit as she shook the scientist's hand.

"P-pleasure to meet you as well, C-connie," she stuttered.

Asriel stood behind the three as they talked, thinking for a second. "Hey, ?" he interrupted, looking over Steven and Connie's shoulders. She looked over at him. "Would it be alright if I add your number to my phone?"

"Oh, y-yeah! I'll put it on for you… whoa, this thing is _ancient!_ D-don't worry, prince Asriel, I-I'll be right back!" Swiftly, ran back to the elevator, disappearing as it descended.

"Ok then…" Asriel chuckled.

"I wonder what she's doing?" Connie asked, watching the elevator.

"Maybe she's making a new phone?" Steven suggested, shrugging.

At that moment, emerged from the elevator, which had just returned from downstairs. Quickly, she rushed over to Asriel, a shiny, black object in hand. "H-here," she said, holding it out to him. The two humans looked over her shoulder.

"Wow, look at that!" Connie said in awe.

"W-well, all I did was upgrade it… really, it was eas-" Alphys was interrupted by a large boom from the center of the room.


	11. 11 - Probably the most fabulous chapter

As the wall broke down, bricks went flying and some dust filled the air. "Oh, no-"

"OH, YES!" exclaimed a small robot. "Hello, darlings!"

"Um…" said the three children in unison. The robot stood before them. It… chuckled.

"It's me! METTATON!" it exclaimed dramatically. "And welcome back to Mettaton TV!" The room went dark, as spotlights hit the children.

"What's going on?" Connie asked.

"Why don't you introduce yourself first, darling? It's very rude to keep your identity secret!" Mettaton argued.

"Ok… I'm Connie, and these are my friends, Steven and Asriel," she said motioning to the two behind her. "And you are…?"

"YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!" Mettaton shouted.

"Oh my gosh, you really _are_ Mettaton!" Asriel exclaimed at last, observing the robot.

"Hi there, Mettaton!" Steven said. "So, why did you break through the wall?"

"For… DRAMATIC EFFECT!" the robot exclaimed, striking a pose.

"Wait, are we on…? Oh my gosh oh my gosh OH MY GOSH!" Asriel squealed, observing the cameras. "We're on Mettaton TV!"

"Why yes, you are!" Mettaton said. "Now, let's get started!"

Connie leaned over to Steven as everyone got set up. "This sounds fun!" she whispered, and he smiled and nodded in agreement.

"What's the game?" Asriel asked, excited.

"Truth… OR DEATH!" Mettaton exclaimed maniacally.

"Oh, that's MY FAVORITE ONE!" Asriel shouted, and the others stared at him.

"First question!" Mettaton said, catching everyone's attention. "What are robots made of?"

"Well, they're made up of buttons, wires, and other mechanical components-" Connie started, but Asriel jumped up.

"Metal and Magic!" He exclaimed, and Mettaton huffed.

"Correct!" Connie stared up at the robot with disbelief.

"Asriel, how did you know that?" she asked.

"I watch this show _all the time!_ " Asriel replied to the human, and Connie smiled, realizing this would give them an advantage.

As if reading her mind, Steven exclaimed, "Great! That means we have an advantage!"

The game continued onward like this, with Mettaton asking the questions and Asriel answering each one perfectly. "Now," the robot continued after a while, "what happened in episode 5 of Kissy Kitty Mew?"

"OH I KNOW!" Alphys exclaimed. SHE GOT ICE CREAM THAT WAS A FLAVOR THAT NO ONE KNEW WAS… oh wait…"

"Alphys, tsk tsk, you know the rules," Mettaton said. "This isn't your game. In fact, I'd end the game now if it weren't for this _next question…_ "

"Oh, no," Dr. Alphys huffed.

"OH, YES!" Mettaton turned back to the contestants. "Tell me, darlings- WHO DOES HAVE A CRUSH ON?"

"Um…" Steven started blushing, as one of the answers appeared to be 'the human'. "We just met her today, so we wouldn't know…"

"Th-that is true," Connie agreed.

"WAIT!" Asriel jumped up. "Can I have two minutes to inspect the Lab?"

"Wh-what?" Alphys stuttered.

"Of _course,_ prince Asriel, take you time!" Asriel nodded and sped upstairs, Alphys covering her face in her hands. Even covered, you could tell that her usually yellow skin had turned an unbelievable shade of red. Mettaton worked to entertain the crowd during Asriel's intermission by asking the humans several, non-trivial questions.

"IT'S UNDYNE!" Asriel shouted, returning about a minute later.

"EXCELLENT!" Mettaton exclaimed, and, by some miracle, Alphys managed to turn an even deeper shade of red. "See, Alphy, it's pretty obvious- even the prince figured it out! The doc's got something _big_ going on for that fish! She scribbles her name in the margin of her notes! She's _constantly_ trying to come up with a good ship name! I think my favorite so far is _Alphyne_ , wouldn't you agree, Doctor?"

Alphys turned away, stepping out of the range of the cameras. Steven tried to give her a look of sympathy, but she seemed to refuse to look back. "Oh, and will you look at that?" Mettaton huffed. "We're out of time… that's too bad, this was just getting interesting! Don't worry, be sure to tune in to our _next episode!_ " With that, mettaton left, and Alphys sighed.

"Th-that was… interesting, huh?" She stuttered. Steven and Connie nodded. "W-well… I'm gonna go to the bathroom." With that, she headed into the elevator.

"Why did she go into the elevator?" Steven pondered. "I thought she said she was going to the bathroom." Connie shrugged.

"Oooh, I wonder who all saw us on TV!" Asriel said. "Imagine all the people who were watching us!"

"Don't you think that was kind of embarrassing for Alphys, though?" Connie asked.

"A little bit, but it's a much better alternative to being dead," Asriel argued. "I'm sure she can… get over it… d-do you think I've upset her?"

"I'm sure it's fine, Asriel," Steven said, hoping to make him feel better.

"What do we do now?" Connie asked. Steven continued ahead, stepping onto an escalator.

"Whoa, this thing is fast!" Steven exclaimed, as he was shot upstairs. Within a second, he was out of sight.

"St-steven?" Connie called, running after him. Asriel stepped on as well, the group being rocketed to the second story.

"Geez, that's one fast escalator," Asriel commented, as they reached Alphys's room. Noticing Connie's suddenly panic, he asked "uh, Connie, why are you still panicking?"

"I thought… I thought it'd throw us at the wall," she breathed, checking to make sure all of her limbs were intact.

"Nah, it was just a spook," Steven laughed from the other side of the room.

"Well, I don't appreciate that machine slicking my fur back," Asriel huffed, working to fix it.

"Heh, Asriel, your ears!" Connie chuckled.

"They're kinda thrown backwards," Steven explained, and Asriel quickly tried to fix it.

"Wow, look at this room," Connie said, walking along it. "It's such a long bedroom."

"I think it belongs to ," Asriel suggested, observing the 'Kissy Kitty Mew' poster hung up along the walls.

"What do you think this holds?" Steven held up a pink notebook, sticking out of a drawer.

"You aren't actually planning on reading that, are you?" Connie asked, and Steven shook his head quickly, not wishing to invade someone else's privacy.

"As much as I'd love to stay and check out Alphys's room, we've got places to be," Asriel said. "If we want to get to the Barrier anytime soon, we should get moving!"

"Excellent idea!" Connie said, racing to the other side. When she saw the second escalator, she froze. "D-do we have to take that again?"

"There's no other way down!" Steven argued, jumping ahead of her. Reluctantly, Connie followed, as did Asriel, and within a second, the three were downstairs. Asriel started fixing his fur again as the three continued out of the Lab.

"Geez, it's hot!" Asriel panted after a few minutes.

"Please don't pass out on us again," Connie laughed.

"You think that was a choice?" he argued, snickering along with her. Eventually, they reached a small series of platforms, each one bearing some sort of pad with an arrow on it. The one in the middle kept alternating from each direction every second or so, making it difficult to tell which way it was going to go.

At that moment, Asriel's phone buzzed, and he picked it up, confused. "I know what the ringing is, but- why is it buzzing?"  
"Maybe that's part of the new feature Alphys put on your phone," Steven suggested. Connie nodded in agreement, and Asriel checked it out. It turned out to be an update from some sort of social media site.

"How do you guys manage to pull _that_ off underground?" Connie asked, and Asriel shrugged.

"I don't know," he said, as his phone buzzed again. The sound repeated over and over again, each one talking about a new post from .

"What is she saying?" Steven asked.

"It just says how she should really be calling the humans… she's picking up the phone… no, she can't do it… she's too anxious… ok, ok, she's doing it…" and at that moment, the phone rang.

"Excellent timing!" Connie laughed as Asriel answered.

"Hello?" He asked.

"H-h-hi, prince Asriel," came the reply, and sure enough, it was Alphys. "Are the h-humans there?"

"Yeah, they're here," he said, putting the phone on speaker for the others to hear.

"Well, I just thought I sh-should let you know… there are gonna be a lot of puzzles ahead. B-but don't worry! I'm… going to help you out. From here, I have control of most of the mechanisms surrounding you- just b-be on the lookout, and try to remain calm!" Without letting anyone answer, she clicked off, barely finishing the last word.

"More puzzles?" Connie asked. "Why are there so many puzzles down here?"

"Maybe you should ask Papyrus," Steven chuckled.

"I think it's for human hunting," Asriel replied. "That seems to be what most of these monsters are focusing on at the moment."

"Do you think it's because they don't like us, or because they want to get back to the overworld?" Connie asked, dryly.

"Uh… more than likely the second one," Asriel said. "I know I wanna get to the surface!"

"I don't think anyone should have to live down here… at least not by force," Steven commented.

"I just wish… you humans liked us a bit more…" Asriel trailed off.

"We like you!" Connie argued.

"I know _you_ like _me,_ but do _they_ like _us?_ As a whole?" Asriel paused. "My mom always told me that monsters were made to love… but humans were made to _be_ loved. So that's what we did! We loved you guys… until that war broke us apart…"

"That's… horrible!" Steven cried, wiping a tear.

"Were you crying?" Connie asked.

"Maybe a little bit…" Connie and Asriel laughed as Steven's face went hot. The three reached some sort of small room containing a canon. It was set up to point at a target, with multiple crates blocking the way.

"Oooh, it's another puzzle!" Asriel exclaimed, running up to the canon. Without a word, he started working, pulling on some sort of lever that moved all of the crates in one direction or another. The humans watched, baffled, as he successfully created an opening for the amo to strike the target's center.

"Wow! You really are good at puzzles!" Steven exclaimed, as Asriel took the shot perfectly.

"NERD!" Called a deep voice from the corner, but the children were to busy to notice, as they ran to the next room. Reentering the light, they found another set of jump pads, navigating them carefully (with Asriel in the lead) as to avoid getting lost. The assortment only took them to another dark shooting room.

"Again?" Connie asked, watching as the young monster took the fire once more.

"I think this is fun!" Asriel argued, solving it within seconds.

"Unbelieveable!" Steven exclaimed. Asriel beamed, turning back to the two.

"C'mon, the door should be open now!" Running ahead, Asriel pointed out the- now open- door that laid in the center of the room.

"Are we getting close to the barrier?" Connie asked, trailing behind the young monster.

"I'm pretty sure," he concluded. "All we have to do is make it through the Core and the Judgement Hall to… my dad…"

"Your dad? Like, the king?" Steven asked, and Asriel nodded.

"What are we supposed to say to your dad? We're taking you with us to the surface?" Connie stopped contemplating.

"Actually… I don't think he'll let you get off that easily. He still wants human souls, so… you'll have to fight him." There was an awkward silence between the three as they climbed into an elevator.


	12. Chapter 12 - Hot diggidy Dog

After about a minute, they stepped off, letting Asriel's words sink in.

"I don't want to fight," Steven said, firmly.

"Yeah, me, neither," Connie agreed.

"I wouldn't want to fight the king, either," Asriel sighed. "I just don't know what else we can do."

"You can support my job and buy a few hotdogs," said someone from the distance. The group looked up, startled, only to find-

"Sans?" Steven asked, watching the skeleton.

"That's my name, don't wear it out."

"What are you doing here?" Connie asked, confused.

"What does it look like?" Sans replied. "I'm selling hotdogs. And hotcats, if you want some of those. I kinda need the money."

"Yeah, OK! I'm starving!" Asriel exclaimed, pulling out some gold.

"You're always starving!" Connie argued, laughing. Asriel reached over for Connie's backpack, moving Rose's sword to the side in an attempt to make room.

"Geez, kid, looks like your inventory's full," Sans said, shrugging.

"But… but I want some hot dogs!" Asriel complained, struggling to make room. "Maybe I can just carry this sword…"

"Don't worry about it, Asriel, I'll just put it on your head," Sans argued, snickering. Swiftly, he placed the hotdog on Asriel's head, free of charge.  
"Oh, wow," Steven said, laughing. "I wonder how many you can fit on his head."

"CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!" Asriel said. "Sans! Lets see how many hotdogs I can balance on my head- and I get them ALL!"

"Eh, I'm not too sure about that… but… alright." Leaning over, Sans placed another hotdog on Asriel's head, then another.

"Oh geez…" Connie said in awe, as the skeleton kept piling hot dogs. Eventually, Sans was forced to place the food telepathically, as no one could reach that high.

"C'mon! One more!" Asriel said, as Sans placed the 29th hotdog.

"I can't, kiddo, I'm out!" He argued. Asriel sighed in defeat.

"So close…"

"Now what are we going to do?" Steven asked. "You can't possibly walk around balancing those…"

"Who says? I'll bet I can!" The young monster argued, determined. Slowly, he took one step, and then another.

"HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS?!" Connie exclaimed, as Asriel continued on ahead.

"See? I told you I coul-" and with that, they all came tumbling down.

"AVALANCHE!" Steven laughed, putting his hands up over his head.

"Aw, that's too bad, kid," Sans commented. "I was actually gonna let you eat those. Hey, if you want, you can each take a hot cat for the road."

"Uh… n-no thanks," both of the humans declined.

"Are you two crazy? I'll take one!" Asriel exclaimed, bounding up the the skeleton.

"Jeez, calm down… here," Sans said, handing him one. Asriel managed to eat the whole thing in two bites.

"Didn't you agree never to do that again?" Connie laughed.

"Maybe…" Asriel replied. Sans rolled his eyes.

"Well, I'll see you guys later… I'm on my break," he said, with a wink. "Trust me… we'll meet again before you get to the surface."

"Alright!" Connie said. "Thanks, Sans!"

"Yeah, see ya later!" Steven called, but Sans was no longer there.

"Huh? Where did he go?" Asriel asked, looking around. "Did he just disappear?!"

"I think so…" Connie replied, confused. Steven laughed.

"Connie, it's magic!" He said, with a sudden realization. "Everything down here is magic, remember?"

"Yeah, he probably just… um… teleported or something…?" Connie concluded, unsure. "He did do that weird 'shortcut' thing back in Snowdin."

"C'mon, let's stop wasting time and get a move on!" Asriel said. "We can talk on the way!"

"You really want to get to the surface, don't you?" Steven asked, as they continued down the rocky path.

"I want to, too!" Connie exclaimed, tugging on Steven's sleeve. "Think about it, Steven- the Gems have probably searched the world at this point looking for you. I wouldn't doubt it if they got themselves trapped in the Underground!"

"That would be disastrous…" Steven agreed, trailing off. The thought flashed through his head, but he pushed it out almost immediately.

"Oh, look!" Asriel interrupted, pointing ahead. It was another assortment of jump pads- but this time, there were a _lot_ more of them.

"Oh, jeez…" Connie sighed, looking at the massive group.

"That looks tricky," Steven noted, also scoping the pads out.

"They _look_ tricky, but they're actually a lot easier to navigate if you know what to look for," Asriel explained, jumping ahead. "C'mon, can you keep up?"

"Of course we can!" Connie said, running after him. Steven trailed behind the two, shouting.

"Hey! Wait up!" He laughed. It took about two minutes, but Asriel eventually jumped onto the last platform, rocketing through the air. This one seemed much more powerful than the others.

"ASRIEL!" Connie shouted, as she flew toward the final landing. Steven, once more, shot behind her, summoning a bubble around the pair before they hit the ground.

"Whoo! Encore!" Asriel clapped, as the humans made their descent.

"What about the core?" Connie asked, as the bubble lowered.

"N-nothing," Asriel said, continuing forward. Steven shrugged and followed, as did Connie. Barely fifteen minutes had passed before-

"WHY, WELCOME BACK, DARLINGS!"

"Oh, no…" Connie muttered, as spotlights shone at the three.

"Oh, yes! Welcome to COOKING WITH A KILLER ROBOT!" Exclaimed Mettaton, as a large, blue laser blocked the exit.

"Oh, yeah!" Asriel exclaimed, bounding up beside Metton. Swiftly, he grabbed an apron and a hat from a drawer below the two, as the two humans shuffled over to the camera.

"Today, we'll be baking a lovely cake, a special recipe perfect for _any occasion!_ " Mettaton explained, pulling out a bunch of utensils. "And here we have our lovely guests- introducing the fallen humans, STEVEN UNIVERSE AND CONNIE MAHESWARAN! And let's not forget, the one, the only, PRINCE ASRIEL!"

Asriel beamed at the sound of his name, bathing in the televised glory. "W-what exactly are we doing?" Connie asked, confused.  
"Have you never seen a _cooking show_ , darling? First, we gather the ingredients!" Mettaton boomed, notioning for a cameraman to reposition their shot toward him. "I've already set them out on the counter for you, anyway- that should be simple enough, is it not?"

"It is!" Asriel exclaimed, bounding to the back of the room. In one swift motion, he managed to snatch all of the ingredients and hand them to Mettaton, who seemed please.

"Excellent work, Asriel!" He noted, setting them up in a specific order. "Now, all we need is one more thing- a HUMAN SOUL!"

"A what?!" Steven asked, startled.

"You heard me, Universe- we need TWO HUMAN SOULS to finish this spectacular recipe! And you two have _just what we need!_ "

"Oh, jeez!" Connie said, stepping out of the way.

"You can't do anything else?" Steven pleaded, just as Mettaton's phone rang. Quickly, he picked it up.

"Hello?" He asked. A moment passed before Mettaton exclaimed "Oh! ! Yes, how can I help you, darling?"  
"M-m-maybe you could… try using something else? Anything else?" Alphys stuttered, in an attempt at a rescue.

"Like what?"

"Maybe a… substitute! M-m-maybe someone could be… vegan?" Alphys paused, hoping Mettaton would fall for her trick.

Sure enough, he did. "ALPHYS, darling, that's GENIUS!" Clicking off, he turned back to the three children. "New plan! It appears as if we'll be using a human soul substitute!"

"Oh, thank goodness," Connie muttered, eyeing Steven.

"Buuuuuuut… you'll have to go get it!" Mettaton concluded, pointing to the far side of the room.

"That's fine with me!" Steven said in relief, as he and Connie ran over to the far counter.

"Well, go on, take it!" Mettaton insisted, and the two humans grabbed for the substance. At that moment, the counter it sat on shot into the air, a minute or so passing before it stopped as far as the Underground would let it. "Don't forget we've got a time limit, darlings! If you can't grab it in the next minute- I'll be forced to use YOUR SOULS!"

"What?!" Connie shouted, but the timer had already started.

"Uh, maybe I can try and use my floating powers…?!" Steven offered, giving it a shot.

"I don't think that's gonna work…" Connie moaned. At that moment, Asriel's phone rang, and he picked it up.

"Papyrus, now is really not a good time-"

"Papyrus? Th-this is , silly," argued the scientist from the other side. "Quickly, give your phone to the humans!"

"Huh?" Asriel muttered, passing his phone to Steven.

"Steven, Connie, within the next few seconds, I should be able to turn prince Asriel's phone into a jetpack using a new feature I installed," she explained. "Use it to get to the top!"

"Wait, really?" Connie asked, but the phone had already clicked off and was now morphing into a double jetpack of sorts.

"WHOA, THAT'S SO COOL!" Asriel exclaimed from afar, as the humans quickly strapped themselves in.

"Is this even safe?" Connie wondered allowed, eyeing Steven.

"It's our only shot," he argued, starting the machine as the two rocketed into the air. From above, Mettaton was throwing down different ingredients, working to hit the humans with eggs and flour and an assortment of others.

"Thirty seconds!" He shouted, continuing to make it rain food.

"What's wrong with this crazy place?!" Steven shouted, working to navigate the machine out of the way.

"We're almost there!" Connie exclaimed, clicking a big red button in attempt to reach the substitute before time ran out. Sure enough, the two managed to snatch the canister with four seconds left to spare.

"Excellent work, darlings! Bravo, bravo!" Mettaton exclaimed, obviously annoyed. "It's really too bad, however… have you ever seen a cooking show, humans? I cooked the cake before hand! Besides, I have to get ready for my next show."

"You can't be serious," Connie said, dryly, but Mettaton was already gone.

"No way! All of that was for nothing?!" Steven exclaimed, the two returning to the ground.

"Aw, the show's over," Asriel sighed, disappointed

"I… guess we keep moving?" Connie muttered, aggravated. Steven nodded in agreement, as the three continued down the path.

"Wasn't that fun?" Asriel asked, still hyper with excitement. The two stared at him as if he was crazy, and he laughed. "Alright, maybe not so much… but I liked being on TV."  
"I guess it can be fun when you're not trying to save yourself," Steven laughed.

"Let's try and avoid Mettaton for now, nonetheless…" Connie started. "I _really_ don't want to have a repeat of 'Truth or Death' or 'Cooking with a Killer Robot'."

"Looks like that's gonna be hard," Asriel said, pointing to a poster. As the red hot lava morphed into a dark, cool cave, a far wall advertised 'Mettaton the Musical', which appeared to be not too far up ahead.

"Welp, looks like we're going to be famous," Steven noted, a bit of annoyance in his tone.

"I wouldn't be surprised if King Asgore already knew we were down here. And with his son. That can't be very good." Connie looked over at Asriel, who seemed confused.

"Why would I make it worse?" He asked, looking back up at the human.

"Would you appreciate it if someone of a different species took your son and tried to convince him to fight you to escape your home?" Connie paused before saying the last word.

"Escape?" Steven queried.

"Yeah… remember how we're all kinda trapped down here? Against our will?" Asriel replied solemnly.

"Right," Connie sighed, sadly. The three continued in silence for a minute before Steven spoke up.

"Why was the war even started in the first place?" He asked.

Asriel shrugged, and Connie continued, "I'm not sure. Maybe-" but then her phone rang. Well, sort of. It was trying to ring, but the noise was very distorted, and anxiously, Connie picked it up. "Hello?"  
"CONNIE?! Is tha_ y_u?!" shouted someone from the other side, and Connie gasped.

"Y-yes! Yes it is!" She shouted into the receiver, turning to Steven. "Steven, it's Pearl!"

"Really?!" Steven asked, going starry-eyed. Connie nodded quickly, turning back to the phone and putting it on speaker.

"Connie, are you alright?! Are you with Steven?! Where are you two? We've been searching for you for days!" Pearl took a deep, shaky breath from the other side.

"Yes, Steven's here with me," Connie started, "and we're fine. We're in some place called 'The Underground', and we've been trying to find our way out all weekend."

"Where is that at?" Pearl asked quickly.

"W-we don't know…" Steven replied, anxiously.

"Steven, is that you?! Oh, it's so good to hear your voice! You have no idea how worried I was! You really don't know where you're at?"

"N-no, I'm sorry, Pearl," Steven said sadly. "We're almost back on the surface… it should be just a little while longer."

"Yeah, it'll only take a day or so," Asriel said, and Pearl gasped from the other side.

"Who is that?!" She asked.

"Pearl, calm down," Connie started, "it's just Asriel. He's our friend, and he's been helping us find the way out."

"I-it's nice to meet you…" Asriel stuttered into the receiver.

"Hello, Asriel. I am Pearl, as you may or may not already know," she stated, trying to remain as calm as possible. "Can you tell me where you're at, Asriel?"

"T-the Underground," Asriel replied, taking the phone from Connie.

"Yes, but where is 'The Underground' located?" Pearl asked, anxiously.

"The barrier is at a place called ," Asriel offered, and from the other side, Pearl sighed with relief.

"We're not even sure if you can get to us from there…" Steven started, but he was interrupted.

"I, uh, n_ed to g_," Pearl said, losing connection. "St_ven, Conn_e, As_iel, please st_y safe and DON'T D_ ANYTH_NG DANGERO_S!"

"Bye, Pearl…" the three said in unison, as the connection was lost for good. Steven sighed.

"Uh, hey, look," Asriel said, trying to cheer him up. "I think that's the hotel up by the Core."

"Yes, we're getting closer!" Connie rejoiced, running up ahead.

"Hey, wait for us!" Steven and Asriel laughed, trailing behind her. With that, their journey continued.


	13. Chapter 13 Extra - Core and Sans' Socks

Running along the path, the three passed right by a room with another "Mettaton the Musical" poster and into the bright area of the MTT Hotel, beaming as they approached their destination.

"Hey, is that…?" Connie started, squinting up ahead.

"Oh, wow, that was faster than I expected," Asriel admitted, the three stopping in front of a dark figure.

"Hey there, kiddos," Sans said, looking up. "Long time no see."

"Yeah, sure," Steven agreed sarcastically, matching the skeleton's tone.

"Hello again, Sans," Connie said, glancing at Steven.

"What are you doing here?" Asriel asked, confused.

"Well, I thought I'd be nice and take you guys out to dinner again. You know, just for fun. While you're down here," he replied, shutting his eyes and shrugging.

"Oh, cool!" Asriel said, beaming. "Where to?"

"Heh, here, follow me," Sans replied, walking to the left side of the building. "I've got a shortcut." With that, the four disappeared for a split second, reappearing seconds later in some sort of diner. Although the lights were dim, this place seemed much more fancy than Grillby's had.

"Whoa, that was fast!" Steven exclaimed, looking around.

"You can say that again," Connie agreed in awe. "That _was_ another 'shortcut'!"

"Yeah, exactly… I forgot I already showed you," Sans said, taking a seat. The three sat across from him, still baffled by the experience.

"Thanks, Sans," Asriel said, as he was last to sit down.

"No problem, kiddo… so… I'm thinking I've got a story to tell. Should I tell it?" Sans pondered allowed, looking down.

"Um, sure! I'd love to hear it!" Steven replied, resting his chin in his palm.

"I guess, I guess…" Sans started. He seemed lost in thought. "Being a 'guard' in Snowdin… lookin out for humans… it was so _boring._ But, one day… I found a door in the woods. Just a random, locked door, sitting in the middle of nowhere. Perfect for practicing knock knock jokes. So that's exactly what I did- and it was an excellent way to pass the time, too. But one day, something extraordinary happened.

"'Knock, knock,' I said, to no one in particular. But there was a reply today- 'Who's there?' Why, I was so excited, I couldn't contain myself.

"'Dishes.'

"'Dishes who?'

"'Dishes a very bad joke,' I finished, and the woman _laughed_ \- the most beautiful laugh, too. So I keep 'em coming with the knock knock jokes, and she _keeps laughing_. It's awesome. But then she comes right back with one. 'Knock knock!' 'Who's there?' I replied. 'Broken pencil!'

'Broken pencil who?' 'Never mind- it's pointless!'

"She was amazing… but one day… she stopped laughing. 'What's wrong?' I'd asked her, but she gave me the most peculiar response. 'Please, promise me,' she'd said… 'promise to protect any humans that come through this door. Please don't let them get into and trouble, or get hurt. Don't let them into harm's way. Please.

"Well, usually, I hate making promises, but it's hard to say no to a person with such humor… 'Sure,' I said. But I've gotta be honest, kiddos… if it weren't for that woman… well… let's just say…

Y O U ' D

B E

Y O U

D."

"W-well… that got dark really fast," Asriel commented, breaking the minute's silence that had passed.

"Hey, look on the bright side- you're not dead. And you're not hurt. Right?"

"Uh, yeah…" Steven replied quickly.

"So, are we gonna order anything?" Asriel said, hoping to change the subject. "I mean, we _are_ at a restaurant."

"Look, here comes a waiter," Connie said, as a dark figure approached with a notepad.

"Heh, that guy wasn't here the last run," Sans said, observing the dark figure.

"Last run?" Steven asked, and Sans froze.

"Uh… why don't you guys order something? On me," Sans said.

"Ok!" Asriel exclaimed, turning back to the waiter, but the figure didn't give them a chance to speak. Swiftly, he set down a tray of hot dogs and hot cats, turning and walking away. Suspicious, Connie watched as the man ran off.

"Wow, those look good," Steven said, looking down at the tray. However, within a blink an an eye, the food was gone, only leaving an empty tray in front of them.

"What? Where'd it go?!" Asriel queried, startled.

"Oh, sorry," Sans said, wiping his face with a napkin. "Did you want some?"

"Of course I wanted some!" Asriel replied, sighing. "That looked so good…"

"How did you even manage to pull that off?" Connie asked, baffled.

"The same way I manage to pull everything off," the skeleton replied with a wink. "Maaaaaaaagic."

"That makes sense," Connie agreed.

"Well, we really should get going," Asriel said, standing up. "The barrier isn't going to break itself!

"Uh, yeah…" Steven said, standing up beside him. "Thanks for the, uh, story, Sans."

"Yeah, thanks," Connie said, trying to be polite.

"Don't mention it," Sans said, obviously not picking up on the sarcasm. Before anyone could say another word, he disappeared, right out of thin air.

"Aaaaaaand there he goes again," Asriel sighed. "Seriously, who takes a person out for dinner just to eat all the food?!"

"You," Connie pointed out, and she and Steven laughed. "C'mon, I think we should spend the night here," she concluded as the three walked back out into the hotel.

"If you don't remember… we don't have any gold," Steven reminded her.

"What about Asriel's gold?" Connie asked.

"I spent most of it on food," Asriel replied. "I don't have enough for even one person. And now we face that problem…"

"C'mon, let's just get through the Core," Steven suggested. "We can sleep later."

"Maybe Alphys has some blueprints of the Core we can use," Connie pondered aloud, as Asriel pulled out his phone.

"Here, let me check," he obliged, dialing the doctor's number.

"H-hello, this is ," stuttered a voice from the other side.

"Howdy, Alphys! This is Asriel. We were wondering if you'd happen to have any blueprints Connie, Steven and I could look at."

"W-why yes, of course! Let me check…" Alphys left for a few minutes, and Asriel turned back to the the humans.

"You guys do realize I'm bad with directions, right?" He asked.

"Wait, what? You've been leading us the whole time!" Connie argued, but Alphys returned to the phone, interrupting the two. "Here, let me do it."

"Now, Asriel-" Alphys started.

"Nope, it's Connie now."

"Oh, OK, then… Connie, you guys should just keep going through each room. Nothing should get in your way unless it's another monster… in that case, you'd use mercy as an alternative to fighting them, hopefully."

"Yeah, of course," Connie said, as the three marched through the metal halls. The sound of their footsteps on the metal echoed through the walkway as the charged to room after room.

"Ok, take a right here- and watch out in case those lasers decide to come on," Alphys noted.

"Thanks, Alphys," Connie replied, she, Steven, and Asriel bounding down the hall.

"D-don't go up here- keep going forward," Alphys continued, and the rest of the night continued as such; every few minutes, Alphys would give a direction, and Connie would lead the other two, working their way through the metal maze as quickly as possible. Nearly and hour and a half had passed before they paused.

"Oh, gosh, I'm exhausted!" Asriel panted, stopping right outside of an elevator door.

"Don't worry, I think we're almost there," Connie said, clicking off the phone and sitting up against the wall.

"Man, look at how far we've come," Steven said, sitting beside her. "We're almost home, and we've made so many friends, and we've done so many things…"

"I'll almost miss this place, to be honest," Connie agreed.

"But imagine how great it'll be on the surface!" Asriel exclaimed. "What's it like? What's the Sun like? What're the stars like?"

"You don't know what the stars are like?" Steven asked, and Asriel shook his head.

"None of us have been to the surface… it requires a monster soul and a human soul. But that's only to cross the barrier- my dad's trying to collect more to break the barrier. For good this time, so all the monsters can be free."

Steven stayed silent for a second. "What soul are you going to use to get to the surface?"

"I don't know… maybe we could try a fusion!" Asriel seemed more excited by this idea.

"I guess I wouldn't mind that, if it'd help us get back home," Steven said, shrugging. However, before the conversation could continue, a large door opened up in front of the three.

"I'm pretty sure that's the exit," Connie noted, looking ahead.

"Well then, let's get going!"Steven said, enthusiasm coating his voice.

"Th-that was fast," Asriel said, as the three walked into the dim room. The door slammed shut behind them, and lights flashed the edge of the path,

"Hello again, darling," cooed a robotic voice from the darkness. Spotlights blinded the three as Mettaton came into view in the center of the room. "It's me, METTATON! Welcome back to MTT for our last show, ATTACK OF THE KILLER ROBOT, with real DRAMA, real ACTION, and REAL BLOODSHED!"

"W-wait, what was that last one?!" Steven asked, but Mettaton ignored him.

"It's time to DANCE!" Mettaton said, preparing an attack.

"I have two left feet," Asriel commented, anxious.

"Hey, Connie," Steven said, smiling. "What do you say we just this last show a little extra 'pizzaz'?"

"Why, I think that's an excellent idea, Steven," Connie snickered. Moving fast, the two started dancing, seconds later merging into a being of light. Once again, Stevonnie stood before the two monsters, leaving Mettaton baffled.

"Absolutely stunning, darling!" Mettaton exclaimed. "Way to boost the ratings! Speaking of which- LET THE SHOW BEGIN!"

"Uh, is there fire?" Asriel asked worriedly. "Because I'm highly flammable."  
"Fire? Why, of course not, sweetie!" Mettaton boomed, yet he turned away and whispered "quick, get rid of the flamethrowers and the cannons."

"Don't worry, Asriel, I can do this," Stevonnie said, summoning Steven's shield and pulling out Connie's sword.

"Time for round one- LET'S TANGO," Mettaton insisted, sending an army of mini robots after the fusion.

"I've got this…" Stevonnie repeated to herself, as she dodged the robots.

"Where's the popcorn?" Asriel asked no one in particular, enjoying the show from the exclusive view. Even still, Mettaton overheard him, and he flipped around to turn to the young prince.

"There's some in the corner, darling," he replied. "Now, where were we- oh right. Let's make your last living moments.. L!"

"Let's go," Stevonnie replied, getting ready as music blasted in the background. "DEATH BY GLAMOUR" Scrolled on a screen above as Mettaton started his next attack.

"Get hit by my FABULOUS legs!" he boomed, sending a series of robot legs.

"Two can play at that game," Stevonnie huffed, working to dodge the attack. Meanwhile, Asriel picked up a small pamphlet.

"Hey, I found Mettaton's manual!" He exclaimed, raising it up in the air. "Ok… 'the way to defeat Mettaton is to have a higher rating in battle.'"

"Ratings? Thanks, Asriel!" Stevonnie, exclaimed, turning back to the killer robot.

"This is good popcorn," Asriel replied, taking another handful from the bag. "Thanks, Mettaton."

"SANS! SANS, LOOK! IT'S THE HUMANS AND THE PRINCE!" Papyrus exclaimed from his seat at Grillby's, pointing up at a television screen.

"Wait, what? The kids?" Sans asked, glancing up.

"YES! IT'S THEM! IT'S REALLY THEM!"

"Where?" Sans asked, playing dumb.

"ON THE TELEVISION, BROTHER!" Papyrus responded, obviously not catching Sans's sarcasm.

"Yo, Grillbs, look," he said, looking back down at the flaming server. Grillby looked up to where Papyrus was pointing.

"... wow…" He replied, recognizing the three from their previous meeting. On the television, Mettaton continued with his attacks.

"Darling! Surrender to my _fabulousness!_ " he boomed.

*Plus +100 for being fabulous.

"I guess I'll… strike a pose?" Stevonnie said, examining her options as she imitated Mettaton's stance.

*Plus +150 for a pose.

"Well, two can play at that game, sweetie," Mettaton replied, a hint of attitude in his voice.

*Plus +10 for drama.

"Let's go, Stevonnie! You've got this!" Asriel cheered from the sidelines, taking another bite of popcorn.

*Plus +5 points from a viewer by the name of _CoolSkeleton95._

*Plus +5 points from a viewer by the name of _justsans._

"See, you've got this! People are loving it! You can do it, Stevonnie!" Asirel continued, pointing out the points being added by viewers.

*Plus +20 points from a royal sponsor. Mettaton- 110, Stevonnie- 172.

"Well, darling, looks like you luck runs out," Mettaton continued, noticing the score.

*Plus +20 points for evil intent.

"Oh, YES," he exclaimed, striking a pose. Glitter rained down on the robot as he continued to change his stance.

*Plus +30 points for a _glitter-full_ pose.

"Ok, let's do this one more time," Stevonnie said, her body morphing back into a ray of light as she split back into two.

"Steven? Connie? What are you doing?!" Asriel asked.

"We can make more points if we have double the poses!" Steven explained, he and Connie imitating Mettaton's stances once again.

*Plus +30 points _each_ for dramatic poses.

With that, the two nodded and re-fused. "Hey, guys!" Asriel said, "I found the fireworks!" He laid them on the ground behind the two humans and set them off, creating a brilliant show.

*Plus +10000 for royal help and fireworks at the same time.

"WHAT?!" Mettaton huffed. "Oh, darling, I can do _so much_ better!" With that, he started to sing, sparks flying from cannons on both sides.

*Plus +5000 for a fiery dance. Mettaton- 5160, Stevonnie- 10232

"Wow, look, we're beating Mettaton!" Asriel exclaimed in disbelief.

"Ha, do you see _that?_ " Stevonnie asked, turning back to Mettaton.

"Ratings… Ratings… _RATINGS…_ " Before he could say anything else, Mettaton went out in with a flash and a boom, yet… he was still standing when the smoke cleared. "L-let's take a phone call, shall we?" He continued, obviously aggravated with the outcome of the show down.

"Um… I'll miss your show and you," said a caller quickly, hanging up before Mettaton could get a word in.

"Well, that was fast," he said, starting to put the phone down. "But… I'll take another." He pulled it back up, receiving another call.

"I'll miss you, Mettaton!" The caller squealed, sounding upset.

"Oh… h-h-h…" with that, he powered down. The two were left standind with the broken robot when the doors suddenly slammed open. Alphys ran in, looking worried.

"METTATON CONNIE STEVEN ASRIEL! Are you o-ok?!" she asked, frantic.

"Mettaton just exploded because of his excitement for the ratings, a-and… he powered down," Stevonnie replied.

"Ok, I'll just rebuild him… s-some arms and legs, maybe, and…" she paused. "Wait, w-who are you?"

"Oh, right- I'm Stevonnie," the fusion replied. "Don't worry, though, it's still us…" with that, the two unfused.

"Oh… Ok then, I'll just, uh… take Mettaton and go back to the lab." Alphys continued, picking up the broken robot. "You guys should keep going, though… good l-luck, by the way."

"Thanks, Alphys!" Steven called, waving.

"Yeah, thanks for everything!" Connie agreed, doing the same.

"I finished my popcorn just in time," Asriel said, throwing his bag away as he bounded toward the door.

"So, that's it, then? We just keep going forward?" Connie asked.

"Yep! We're so close, I can _feel it!_ " Asriel exclaimed, running ahead.

"Well, here goes nothing," Steven concluded, as the three walked out of the showroom to the next part of their journey.

 **Chapter** **13.5: Sans picks up his sock. No, he actually does it.**

"SAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNSSSSSSSSSSSS!" Papyrus shouted angrily.

"What is it, bro?" Sans asked wearily, sitting up from his spot on the couch.

"PICK UP YOUR SOCK ALREADY!" He exclaimed, pointing at the sock that lay beside the TV.

"Ok," Sans said, seeing the anger in his brother's eyes. He got up and picked the sock up, dropping it right back down again. "There. Done."

"GOD DAMN IT, SANS, I'M DONE," Papyrus huffed, walking out of the house with a slam behind him.

"Papyrus, wait," Sans called, "Don't be such a _heel_!"

And with that, a muffled scream sounded from the other side of the door.


	14. Meh and Meh stupid computer I swear

I am aware that some of the words from the line 'Youd be dead where you stand' didn't load. Forgive meh and meh stupid computer :3


	15. Chapter 15 - The Judge

"I wonder what's going on back in Snowdin," Asriel pondered aloud, after the three had been walking for about half an hour.

"Probably just Sans and Papyrus doing some stupid joke," Connie replied. "They seem like the pair that would have Sans put all their mugs in the yard and tell his brother it's a bit muggy outside."

"Yeah, probably," Steven said, laughing.

"Oh wow, that was funny," Asriel agreed, bursting out laughing.

"So… what's that castle like, Asriel?" Steven asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, just a plain castle. Nothing really special. It's what you would think it would look like." Asriel responded, shrugging.

"I'll bet it's large and full of nice furniture" Connie daydreamed. Asriel giggled.

"Yeah, that sounds about right." he agreed. Steven jumped ahead, excitedly, as the three continued.

"Oh boy, I can't wait to get to the Capital!" he exclaimed, turning back to his friends.

"Well, we're almost there… I think," Asriel continued. "Just wait a little longer, OK? Here, now that we have some time to talk, maybe you guys can tell me more about yourselves… I don't really know much about humans!"

"Well, I live in the town next to Steven's, and I'm an only child," Connie started, staring off into space. "My parents are _really_ overprotective."

"Heh, Mom is also overprotective… all the time, actually," Asriel laughed. "What about you, Steven?"

"Well, I don't live with my mom," he started sadly, "but I have her gem!"

"O-oh…" Asriel trailed off. The three walked onward in a semi-awkward silence before Steven spoke up again.

"Anyway, how far are we, Asriel?" He asked again, anxious to get home.

"We just need to go up this elevator all the way to floor five… then we're in New Home!" Asrie exclaimed, as the three stepped into the silver capsule. Elevator music sounded for a few minutes before a loud 'ding' rang out, and the doors opened once more.

"Wow, that was fast," Connie said, stepping out behind Steven.

"Yeah," he agreed, glancing at Asriel.

"It's a new turbo elevator," the young monster exclaimed, taking the lead. "Now, let's go!"

"It's so gray here…" Steven commented, looking around. "Where's all the color?"

"Well, we haven't made it to the castle yet," Asriel explained. "This is just the hallway…"

"Hey, look!" Connie exclaimed, pointing ahead. "Is that the castle entrance?"

"Huh?" Asriel said, looking up. "We shouldn't be yet… I don't recognize that doorway."

"Well, it looks like there's no other path," Steven said, stepping inside. The three arrived in a golden hallway, complete with large glass windows casting a golden glow all around.

"How is there even sunlight? I thought we were underground," Connie pointed up, looking around.

"Maybe it isn't sunlight…?" Steven suggested. Walking faster, the three moved quickly through the hall… until they were met by a dark figure.

"So… you finally made it." The mysterious figure stayed hidden in the shadows, freaking the children out.

"Asriel, who is that?!" Connie whispered, and Asriel shrugged.

"I don't know, but doesn't it look like…?" Asriel started, but was cut off.

"The end of your journey is at hand… In a few moments, you will meet the king. Together, you will determine the future of this world… but that's then. Now, you will be judged." Finally, the figure revealed itself to be…

"S-sans?" Steven asked, observing as the small skeleton stepped in front of the group.

"You… you will be judged for your _every action,_ " he continued. "You will be judged for every EXP point you've earned."

"What's an EXP point?" Connie asked.

"Exactly," Sans continued. "It's an acronym. It stands for _execution points._ "

"Execution?!" Steven asked, and the skeleton nodded.

"A way of quantifying the pain you've inflicted on others. When you kill someone, your EXP increases. And, when you have enough EXP… your _LOVE_ increases."

"L-love?" Asriel asked. "Like… affection?"

"No- another acronym," Sans continued. "It stands for _Levels of Violence._ A way of measuring one' capacity to… hurt. The more you kill, the easier it becomes to distance yourself… the more you distance yourself, the less people you will hurt."  
"I… don't understand," Steven said, shocked of the words being spoken at that very moment. Sans turned away.

"Th-the more easily you can bring yourself to hurt others," he tried to explain. "Now, now that you understand… it is time for your judgement to begin."

"Wait, it hasn't begun yet?" Asriel asked, but Sans ignored him.

"Look inside yourself… have you really done the right thing?"

"Um… yes?" Steven replied. Sans worked to conceal a small laugh.

"A-and, considering what you've done so far… what will you do now?" he continued. "Take a moment to think about this."

The three stood, silent, trying to grasp the concept of hurting the other monsters… what would they have done it for? Personal gain? Just for fun? For a justifiable reason? Whatever the case may be, they hadn't… and they would never dream of such.

"Truthfully… it doesn't matter what you said. You know, in your heart… you didn't hurt anyone. You never gained any LOVE. Of course, that doesn't make you completely innocent or naive, but… you still kept a certain tenderness in your heart. No matter the struggles or hardships you faced, you _strived_ to do the right thing. You _refused_ to hurt anyone. Even when you ran away… you guys did it with a smile.

"Wait, how could he possibly know that type of information?" Steven whispered to Connie, who shrugged uncertainly.

"In a way… you never gained any LOVE, but you gained love. If that even makes any sense."

"It… it does…" Connie said. Sans nodded, pausing for another minute.

"Now," he picked up. "Now, you are about to face the greatest challenge of your entire journey. Your actions here will determine the fate of the entire world. If you refuse to fight… Connie, Steven, he'll… Asgore will take both your souls and destroy humanity."

"Why would he do such a thing? Humans are so nice!" Steven argued.

"Well, there is _another option_ … you could always kill Asgore and go back home. But, monsters will remain trapped underground. So… what will you do?" Sans waited as the three pondered this in a shocked silence. "Well, if it had been me? I would have thrown the towel in by now. But you three didn't get this far by giving up, did you?"

"N-no… we didn't, did we?" Connie said, turning to Asriel and Steven. They both nodded, firmly in unison.

"That's right," Sans continued, looking back up at the children. "You have something we like to call… DETERMINATION. So, as long as you hold on… as long as you do what's in your heart… I believe you can do the right thing." The four stood in the golden hall in silence, soaking in the skeleton's words. "Alright… I won't keep you here any longer. We're all counting on you, kiddos. G-good luck."  
"Thanks, Sans," Steven started, daring to take a step forward. The other two followed a bit hesitantly. However, within a blink of an eye… Sans was gone, anyway.

"How does he do that?!" Connie asked, looking around.

"I have no idea… but at least now we can confirm we've been being watched this whole time," Asriel said, drly.

"Hey, this could've been worse," Steven said. "Imagine having to go up against him."

"Oh, wow, that would be impossible," Connie replied, pushing the thought out of her mind.

"C'mon, let's put that behind us and move on… Steven, Connie, we're unbelievably close!" Asriel bounded up ahead and Connie followed. Only Steven trailed behind, whispering to himself.

"I really wish we weren't."


	16. Chapter 16 - The Barrier

"Let's keep moving," Asriel said, as the three exited the strange golden hallway and into another gray corridor.

"Hey, Asriel, what's in the room with all the vines?" Steven asked, as they approached a dark doorway.

"That's the throne room," Asriel replied, and Connie gasped.

"Wait, so that means we're in the castle?!" She asked, and Asriel nodded. "Wow, let's go!"

With that, the three ran ahead until they reached a large, dark figure that towered over them. "Something's telling me that's not a skeleton here to play judge," Connie whispered to the two.

"Oh, hello there!" The figure boomed. "Hold on, give me a second… let me finish watering my flowers." Tilting up a watering can, the large monster turned around, now identified as the king. "Now, would you like some te- oh. Asriel. Hello again. I see you made some, um… friends, with the humans?"

"Hello, your highness… I'm Steven. Steven Universe!"

"And I'm Connie." The two humans glanced at each other worriedly, but still worked to stay polite.

"H-hi, Dad," Asriel greeted, waving smalley.

"Um, Asriel…" Asgore started nervously. "You do realize how to break the barrier, correct?"

"Yes, but…" Asriel started, only to be interrupted by the now familiar sound of fusion, a brightness washing over the dim room for a split second.

"We might be able to break the barrier on our own. With _this_ ," Stevonnie started, pulling out Rose's sword.

"Yeah, you've got this!" Asriel encouraged, praying it would work.

"OH, STEVEN!" Pearl wailed, from the living room in the beach shack. "WHY? WHY YOU AND NOT ME?!"

"Pearl, it's OK. We've searched everywhere. They said they were underground. It's probably just in a different universe," Garnet guessed.

"AND THAT MAKES IT BETTER?!" Pearl exclaimed.

"I wonder what the food is like there," Amethyst pondered aloud, receiving a glare from Pearl.

Meanwhile, Asriel was busy examining the barrier from a ways away. "Look, there's a small, small, small, small, small, small, _small_ crack in the barrier! And I mean small."

"Yeah, I get it," Stevonnie said, walking up to the young monster.

"He makes a point," Asgore commented from behind her.

"Alright, stand back- I've got this," Stevonnie said, motioning the monster backward as she got into position. With all the force she had, the slashed at the barrier, causing a huge banging sound to echo through the gray hall. She gave it another whack, followed by another, making small but sure progress. Breathing heavily, she kept going, hitting it harder with every breath of… yeah, you've probably guessed it by now: DETERMINATION.

"Hey, Dad, why don't you help her?" Asriel asked.

"Alright, move over," the king boomed, pounding the crack with all he had. He stood there, and barely a minute had passed before he turned back to the children. "I'm… worn out…"

"But you didn't do a thing to it." Stevonnie countered.

"I know."

"Why don't we all try it at once?" Asriel suggested, trying to break up the fight forming between the two. They both nodded, the three standing in formation. All at once, they hurled their bodies at the barrier, once again causing an even louder sound to blast.

"I only made a small dent…" Stevonnie noticed.

"I made one the size of my horn," Asriel continued.

"But… you don't have any horns."

"You don't say?"

"You know, I'm going to make some tea," Asgore decided, turning back to the castle. "You two have fun."

Asriel rammed into the wall again "Still haven't made a dent…" he looked up at his dad, then back at the fusion, then back at Asgore. "Have fun Stevonnie!" He called, running to catch up with the king.

"Grab me some tea, please?" Stevonnie called after him, slashing the barrier once more.

"Ok!" He agreed.

"Can it be green tea?"

"On it!" Asriel complied, now out of sight. The two unfused, a bit tired.

"Here, I'll try and break it with my shield," Steven planned, pulling the defensive piece out of his glowing gemstone.

"Alright, Steven, let's do this," Connie said, wielding Rose's sword. Nearly an hour had passed when the pair stopped attacking the thick barrier, slumping down with their backs to it.

"Well, I'm beat," Steven said in defeat, taking deep breaths. "How… about… you, Connie…?"

"Same…" she agreed, shakily. Asriel ran into the barrier room, huffing as well."

"Sorry it took so long to get the tea! I had to run out and buy some!"

"Thanks, Asriel," Steven said, taking a cup.

"One for Steven… and one for Connie!" Asriel looked up at his dad, smiling.

"Wow, that dent is the size of my fist," Asgore boomed. The humans looked backward, startled, as they had not noticed their progression.

"Whoa, progress…" Steven whispered in awe.

"Ooh, let me try again!" Asriel said, stepping back. In a burst of energy, he hurled himself back at the wall, holding his head afterward. "Wow, look, it's the size of my horn!"

"But… you still don't have any horns," Connie noted.

"Yeah, I know."

"Here, let's all hit it at once again," Asgore re-suggested. "Now that we've all had a chance to rest… give it all you've got. Maybe something will happen."

"Makes sense to me- now there are four of us," Steven said.

"Yeah, same," Connie agreed, getting into position.

"On three," the king said, stepping back. "One, two… three!" The four ran up to the barrier, the humans with weapons in hand… like beforehand, a large boom rang out.

"Ugh, I'm pooped," Asriel said, laying on the floor. However, from above, they heard the most peculiar sound…

"Oh my gosh, look! It's cracking!" Connie pointed out with a smile.

"Wow, it's like when you hit a window with a ball and it cracks, but it doesn't shatter," Asriel noted.

"I think one more hit should do it," Asgore theorized, stepping back.

"Ok," Asriel said, getting up. "In three, two, one… GO!" As the four hit the barrier, the loudest sound echoed through the hall… it echoed through the Core, it echoed through Hotland, it echoed through Snowdin, and if you listen hard enough, it echoed through the Ruins. A blinding light flooded the room, as tears appeared in Asgore's eyes.

"W-wow…" Steven said, taking his hands off his ears, watching the barrier shatter.

"All this time… and this was all I had to do…" Asgore said in awe. Asriel tugged on his arm.

"I don't care, we're all FREE!" Asriel exclaimed, jumping with joy.

"I'll… I'll go let everyone know," Asgore said, wiping the tears away only to replaced by a wide smile. Steven stepped outside, pulling Connie up with him.

"Wow, the air smells so fresh…" Steven said, and Connie nodded, smiling and crying a bit, too. Asriel climbed up next, looking into the sunset with starry eyes.

"The Sun is beautiful… I never thought I'd live to see the day…" Asriel trailed off, wiping a tear from his eye as he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Asriel! Steven! Connie!" Toriel exclaimed, hugging her son. "I decided to come and find you when I came across _Asgore_ and heard you broke the barrier!"

"Wow, look, it's another goat," another familiar voice noted. Sans emerged from the Underground, helping his brother up as well.

"OH MY ASGOD, IT'S A FEMALE ASGORE!" Papyrus squealed, looking at Toriel.

"That would be Queen Toriel," Asgore explained, being the next to escape.

"I told you, Asgore, we are through- I don't want to be your queen anymore," she argued, completely disregarding her son standing a foot away.

"Oh, get rekt, your majesty," Sans said, looking out into the sunset, then down at Asriel. He dropped his voice to a whisper. "So it she on the market?" he asked with a wink.

"Sans, that's my _mom!_ " Asriel argued. Asgore showed up behind the two, ending their conversation fast. He wiped another tear from his eye.

"ASGORE, WHY ARE YOU CRYING?" Papyrus asked, confused. Asriel jumped up and interrupted the two.

"Group hug!" He called, pulling Steven and Connie in for a hug.

"I WANT IN!" Papyrus rejoiced, jumping in. He reached out and pulled his brother in, too, who just laughed it off. Toriel walked over to join them, when suddenly… another red beam appeared.

"Wh-wha…?" Toriel trailed off, as the five disappeared from the mountain top.

Thank you for reading! The story is done now, but there is a book two which I will try to put! :D


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